Lebanese army deploys to three southern pilot zones under US-backed security framework
The Lebanese army began taking charge of security in three southern villages Monday, the United States said, as a deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah faced its first test on the ground.
The US State Department said operations had started in "pilot zones" in Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiya "in accordance with the Trilateral Framework and under the auspices of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon."
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott described the step as a direct outcome of talks held between Israeli and Lebanese delegations in Rome last week.
The framework, signed by Lebanon, Israel and the United States on June 26, envisions a phased Israeli pullback from positions in south Lebanon.
In exchange, the Lebanese Armed Forces are to assume sole security control of vacated areas and certify that they have been cleared of Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure.
The pilot zones are intended to trial the approach in a handful of villages straddling the Litani River.
"It is an opportunity for the Lebanese state to begin to reassert real control in areas historically dominated by Hezbollah," a US official said.
"Any attempt by Hezbollah to derail, infiltrate, or re-arm in these zones would seriously harm the prospects for reconstruction and peace."
Hezbollah has rejected the framework, with the Iran-backed group insisting any arrangement in Lebanon be linked to wider negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
It has not said whether it will resist implementation in the designated areas.
The agreement does not set a timetable for Israel's withdrawal.
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Israeli officials have also vowed that their forces will remain in a "security zone" 10 kilometres (six miles) deep along the frontier for as long as Hezbollah remains armed.
Lebanon and Israel, which have no formal relations, started negotiations after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war by attacking Israel in March.
Lebanon's military said last week that troops had begun intensifying patrols in several villages adjacent to areas occupied by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, including Froun.
Israeli forces are however present on the outskirts of Zawtar al-Gharbiya.
The Lebanese military said Monday that troops "continue to carry out their missions in the southern regions, including the towns of Froun and Srifa."
"In parallel, coordination is underway with the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon (MCG4L) to begin deployment in the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya," awaiting Israel's withdrawal from there, the army added.
The framework agreement was reached following a fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
Israel still launches occasional strikes in southern Lebanon and carries out detonations in villages it occupies near the border.
The talks in Rome came ahead of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's planned meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday.