Lebanon is demanding that Israel fulfill its pledge to withdraw from two “pilot zones” in the nation’s south and hand them over to the Lebanese military before it agrees to participate in the next round of direct talks, scheduled for next week in Rome, a Lebanese diplomatic source told AFP Wednesday.

The source, requesting anonymity, said “Lebanon is stipulating Israel’s withdrawal from two pilot zones in order to participate in the round of negotiations” that Italy and Israel said would take place in Rome on July 15-16, following the signing of a US-brokered framework deal last month.

An Israeli official told The Times of Israel last month that more time was needed for the IDF to withdraw from one of the two pilot zones in southern Lebanon from which it had agreed to pull back under the agreement. The army has not yet been instructed by Israel’s political leadership to withdraw, according to military officials, but the IDF has made preparations for the move.

Israel and Lebanon previously met for five rounds of US-sponsored talks in Washington aimed at ending the war between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and paving the way for peace.

However, the agreement — rejected by Hezbollah — does not set a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal, and Israeli officials have also vowed that forces will stay in a “security zone” 10-kilometers (six miles) deep as long as Hezbollah remains a threat.

The Lebanese diplomatic source said the US State Department told the negotiating delegations that “reaching a framework agreement is the end of one phase and the beginning of a new one.”

The........

© The Times of Israel