Another round of US-brokered talks between Lebanon and Israel will be held in Rome in early September, an unnamed US Department of State official told the Al Jazeera television channel.
He described the consultations as proceeding positively, with no one delaying the implementation of the agreement.
According to the official, the sides are facing political restrictions and internal pressure Washington is trying to settle. He also said that Hezbollah is seeking to derail the negotiating process. Apart from that, in his words, the group on military coordination will continue work on the establishment of the first pilot zones.
The Al Mayadeen television channel reported earlier, citing a diplomatic source, that the next round of consultations will not be held earlier than this fall, with no direct contacts between the sides maintained at the moment.
According to the source, following the seventh round of talks in Rome on August 4-6, the American and Israeli sides rejected Lebanon’s proposal to extend the pilot zone before any progress is reached in the two areas that have already been agreed upon.
Following five rounds of US-brokered consultation in Washington, Lebanon and Israel signed, on June 26, a framework agreement, under which the Lebanese military is to gradually restore effective sovereign control over the entire Lebanese territory while Israel is to withdraw its troops from the occupied areas.
The agreement provides for the establishment of the so-called pilot zones, or areas where Israeli troops are to be evacuated from. The Lebanese army began establishing the first pilot zone in the south of the country in late July.
