Lebanese and Israeli negotiators meet for third and final day in Rome
Lebanese and Israeli negotiators are meeting Thursday in Rome for a third and final day to discuss the implementation of a deal under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they are occupying in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament.
On Wednesday, Israel requested that the day's talks with Lebanon end three hours early, a source in the negotiations told AFP, saying the head of the Israeli delegation, U.S. ambassador Yechiel Leiter, had blamed alleged "misleading leaks" by the Lebanese side.
A State Department official said the talks in Rome ended early "due to events on the ground". The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the diplomacy, said the discussions "were extremely productive."
In south Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes and shelling targeted the towns of Burj al-Shamali, Majdalzoun and Mansouri, leaving eight people wounded. The Israeli military said Wednesday it had begun conducting "precise strikes" in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as "a blatant violation of the ceasefire" that had largely held since June 20. It later announced that two reservists were killed on Wednesday -- the first soldiers to die in Lebanon since June 28.
An Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with the army's policy, said that "an explosion was detonated" when the soldiers entered a site in the village of Majdalzoun and that the nature of the explosive was under review.
In previous U.S.-sponsored talks in June, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a framework deal that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon's south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as "pilot zones".
Source: Agence France Presse, Associated Press, Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://mobile.naharnet.com/stories/en/321675 |