Israel and Lebanon Extend Washington Talks Amid US-Iran Agreement Discontent

Israel and Lebanon are concluding the third day of indirect negotiations held in Washington under American mediation without reaching an agreement on a partial Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Both parties have agreed to extend the talks for a fourth day, scheduled for Friday at the US State Department, according to a spokesperson from the Israeli embassy cited by the Times of Israel.

The United States had hoped to finalize the fifth round of negotiations on Thursday by signing a framework agreement that would allow a partial Israeli withdrawal from specific areas within the security zone Israel established in southern Lebanon. The plan involved deploying Lebanese army units to replace Israeli forces in those zones.

These areas are referred to as "Pilot Zones." An Israeli source explained that this step should not be seen as an actual withdrawal since the Israeli army would maintain its security zone extending six miles into southern Lebanon and would only pull back from regions where Hezbollah’s infrastructure had previously been dismantled.

The source added that, in some instances, the Israeli army had completely leveled entire Lebanese border villages, justifying this by stating that Hezbollah had used large parts of these villages for planning and executing attacks against Israel.

Despite the failure to reach an agreement, a source familiar with the negotiations told the Times of Israel that progress was made on Thursday after the first two days of talks were marked by difficulties.

The source clarified that both Israel and Lebanon entered the fifth round displeased with the United States' decision last week to sign an agreement with Iran that included a ceasefire in Lebanon.

According to the source, both parties viewed the memorandum of understanding with Iran as undermining a fundamental pillar of the direct talks initiated by Washington, which aimed to prevent Tehran from gaining influence in Lebanese affairs.

The source noted that this American move led Israel to harden its stance at the start of this week’s talks by reducing the areas from which it showed willingness to withdraw in southern Lebanon.

Conversely, the Lebanese delegation adopted a firmer position to counter the perception that Iran holds greater influence over Lebanese matters than the Lebanese state itself.

Consequently, Lebanon presented maps proposing an Israeli withdrawal from significantly larger areas than those Israel was prepared to concede, amid political pressures facing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

According to the source, the gaps between the two sides regarding the potential scope of Israeli withdrawal narrowed over the past 24 hours but not sufficiently to finalize an agreement.

The source added that intense American pressure led both parties to agree to resume negotiations on Friday at the US State Department in an effort to reach a consensus.