The withdrawal of Israeli troops from the first of two pilot zones in southern Lebanon is slated to move ahead in the coming days, a US official told The Times of Israel on Thursday, as Washington continued seeking to advance negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.

As part of a framework agreement Israel and Lebanon signed last month in Washington, Jerusalem agreed to withdraw its troops from two small areas in southern Lebanon that have been cleared of Hezbollah infrastructure, to be replaced by members of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).

Two weeks have passed since that agreement, with Israeli forces still remaining in both of the areas that have been deemed the pilot zones.

While the US scheduled the next round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon for next week in Rome, where the sides would build on the framework deal, Beirut stated that it would not attend until Israel completed the agreed-upon withdrawal, an Arab official familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.

US pressure has led to some, albeit limited, progress in coaxing Israel to move ahead with withdrawing from the pilot zones.

“The first pilot zone will launch in a matter of days, and further pilot zones are being mapped out and planned. CENTCOM is coordinating with both countries to move forward,” the US official said.

The Arab official said US Central Command will begin by declaring the first pilot zone ready for LAF deployment, after which the IDF will pull out.

No exact timeline was given for when that first withdrawal will take place beyond “the coming days.” The timeline for the........

© The Times of Israel