Lebanon-Israel talks end in Rome as Israeli strikes pound southern Lebanon

Talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials ended after three days of continous meetings in Rome on Thursday, with no significant breakthroughs and amid continuing Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.

Part of the seventh round of US-led mediation, Thursday’s session focused on the issue of prisoners, sources familiar with the negotiations told The New Arab, with mediators exploring a potential prisoner exchange in line with international law and involving teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Lebanese presidency sources suggested a preliminary list of prisoners had been exchanged, with Beirut insisting on releasing the first batch of prisoners "as soon as possible".

Sources suggested the talks are to be completed in early September, without setting a specific date.

The latest round followed a tense second day of talks on Wednesday that was adjourned an hour early due to "developments on the ground", according to the US State Department. The early suspension coincided with Israeli media reports that an Israeli officer and a reservist had been killed in an explosion in Majdal Zoune, in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon, with four others wounded.

Despite this, the State Department said the meetings had covered a broad range of political and military issues, describing the discussions as "very productive". It added that technical teams had made progress on fleshing out key details for implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) first announced by Washington on 26 June.

Lebanese official sources told The New Arab that "Lebanon, despite everything that is happening, and despite the difficulty of the path and the obstacles that Israel is placing, is committed to the diplomatic track to fully establish a ceasefire and achieve the Israeli withdrawal from all Lebanese territories".

However, no major announcements have yet been made on two core Lebanese demands since talks resumed on Tuesday – foremost among them the issue of the pilot zones.

Sources say the Lebanese delegation is pushing to expand these zones to include Bint Jbeil and Khiam, in addition to the areas already agreed upon: Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, Frun and Sarifa.

After the end of the negotiations, sources in the Lebanese presidency told The New Arab that they had not reached a final conclusion on the issue of pilot zones, with Lebanon insisting on moving to new areas while the Israeli side remained firm on the "verification" of the first two before moving to the next stage.

Khiam’s mayor, Abbas Yousef Ali, told The New Arab that any discussion of his town’s inclusion in the pilot zones has yet to be confirmed at an official level. Even if the proposal is tabled by the Lebanese side, he said, he doubted Israel would agree.

Ali said that more than 90 percent of Khiam, which lies roughly six kilometres from the border, has been destroyed by Israeli bombardment, with Tel Aviv’s campaign killing more than 4,300 people since 2 March. At least 6,500 housing units were documented as destroyed in the town, he added, alongside multiple medical centres, four churches and three mosques.

Persistent attacks overshadow talks

Another central point of contention in the negotiations is Israel’s near-daily attacks on southern Lebanon since the MoU was reached.

Multiple rounds of talks in Rome have so far failed to secure a breakthrough on halting the strikes, raising fears that the ongoing military escalation could fatally undermine the political process.

For the first time since the ceasefire, Israel targeted Burj al-Shamali in the Tyre district overnight, wounding eight people, according to the Ministry of Health.

Additional strikes were reported early Thursday on Mansouri, Houla and Hadatha, Lebanese media said. In Nabatiyeh, Israeli attacks also hit Zawtar al-Sharqiya and Arnoun.

The assaults were accompanied by intensive Israeli drone and helicopter overflights that continued into the early hours of the morning. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli troops were also patrolling in Wadi al-Salouqi and Wadi al-Hujair in the border area.

Lebanese official sources told The New Arab that Beirut is alarmed by the latest developments and Israel’s "widening scope of the escalation", while stressing that "negotiations are underway to calm the situation, especially with the Americans, in order to pressure Israel to stop its attacks."

Separately, the Israeli military said in a statement on Thursday morning that it had arrested 15 Israeli citizens on Wednesday after they damaged the border fence in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and crossed into Lebanese territory.