A US military delegation arrived in Lebanon on Friday to help implement an agreement to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Financial Times has reported, citing Lebanese officials.
The US Central Command (Centcom) delegation’s visit to Lebanon comes ahead of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Rome next week, where technical teams are expected to discuss details of the framework agreement signed on June 26.
As part of the deal, Israel agreed to pull back its forces from two “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces are occupying swaths of territory, that would then be taken over by the Lebanese army.
Al Jazeera, meanwhile, reported that a US State Department spokesperson had confirmed to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency that Israel and Lebanon had reached the “implementation stage” of the agreement and that the first “pilot zone”, from which Israeli forces are expected to withdraw, will launch within days.
