US Delegation Will Monitor Israel's Withdrawal from Southern Lebanon

JAKARTA - A delegation from the United States is expected to arrive in Lebanon soon to oversee the implementation of Israel's withdrawal from a "pilot zone" in the south of the country, the Lebanese Presidency reported on Thursday, citing the US Ambassador.

Lebanon demands that Israel withdraw from these zones before taking part in a new round of negotiations scheduled for July 15 and 16 in Rome, a diplomatic source familiar with the talks told AFP, quoted by Al Arabiya (10/7).

Lebanon and Israel reached a framework agreement on June 26 calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah and Israel's gradual withdrawal from Lebanese territory occupied while the Lebanese army was stationed in a "pilot zone."

The US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, told President Joseph Aoun, "an American military delegation will arrive in Beirut in the coming days to determine the implementation mechanism on the ground," according to the Lebanese Presidency.

The agreement - rejected by Hezbollah - did not set a timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and Israeli officials also vowed that their forces would remain in a "security zone" as deep as 10 kilometers (six miles) as long as Hezbollah was armed.

"It is very important to avoid a power vacuum when Israeli forces withdraw from the designated area," Issa added, according to a statement from the presidency.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, on the other hand, once again called on the United States to "put pressure on Israel to stop military operations and comply with the provisions of the framework."

President Aoun himself is expected to visit Washington later this month at the invitation of his counterpart from the United States President Donald Trump.