Lebanese and Israeli military delegations met in Florida on Tuesday to review a U.S.-mediated framework that links Israel’s phased redeployment in southern Lebanon to verified disarmament and Lebanese army control.
The talks took place at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa. MTV Lebanon reported that the meeting was underway, and The Jerusalem Post said two Israel Defense Forces sources confirmed it. Lebanon’s presidency had announced its delegation’s participation.
The June 26 framework says the Israeli and Lebanese militaries agreed on two initial pilot zones. Under the document published by the U.S. State Department, Israeli troops would redeploy in stages as the Lebanese Armed Forces take responsibility for security. The security handover requires verified disarmament of non-state armed groups and dismantling of their infrastructure in the pilot zones.
The framework also makes reconstruction and residents’ safe return conditional on the requirements for those zones. Securing the areas would fall to the Lebanese army. The published agreement gives no date for a complete Israeli withdrawal.
In remarks before the talks, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of violating the framework and said Israeli operations were obstructing his country’s military deployment to the southern border, the Lebanese presidency said. His office said the delegation would seek an end to what Aoun called Israeli escalation.
Israel says in the framework that its military operations respond to threats from non-state armed groups, particularly Hezbollah. Anadolu Agency reported, citing diplomatic sources, that Tuesday’s session had ended and the delegations planned to resume talks Wednesday, Oct. 21.
