BEIRUT: A planned virtual meeting between Lebanese, Israeli and US military representatives to discuss the implementation of pilot zones in southern Lebanon was postponed on Friday, sources told Arab News.
The meeting had been expected to focus on finalizing the pilot zones, setting a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal and expanding the Lebanese army’s deployment under the framework agreement signed in Washington on June 26.
“It was supposed to take place today, but no time had actually been set for it, partly because of the time difference between Lebanon and the US,” a Lebanese military source told Arab News.
The meeting has been postponed to a later date, yet to be agreed, according to the source.
The postponement came as Lebanese army units stepped up their presence in southern Lebanon, conducting patrols and establishing checkpoints in the towns of Froun, Ghandourieh, Qalaouiyeh, Burj Qalaouiyeh and Kfar Dounine — areas close to Israel’s so-called “Yellow Line.”
The deployment, which received extensive coverage in Lebanese media, was seen as demonstrating the army’s ability to deploy forces and establish observation and inspection points in the area.
“We are present in these zones and have reinforced our deployment over the past two days to make it clear that we are on the ground and carrying out our mission,” the military source said.
The June 26 framework agreement, signed by Lebanon and Israel under US auspices, calls for the Lebanese army to gradually extend state authority across Lebanese territory, beginning with two pilot zones and paving the way for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.
However, the source said the agreement does not explicitly state whether the two pilot zones themselves are located within Israeli-occupied territory.
“Common sense suggests that they are,” the source said, arguing that the purpose of the mechanism is to enable Israeli forces to withdraw and allow the Lebanese army to deploy in their place.
The source attributed delays in defining the pilot zones and beginning the withdrawal process to Israel, which, the source said, was unwilling to vacate the areas.
Meanwhile, tensions continued on the ground. On Friday, an Israeli tank advanced along the main road connecting Mansouri and Bouyout Al-Sayyad on the Tyre-Naqoura route and positioned itself near a Lebanese army checkpoint before later withdrawing.
The military source said the deployment of the Lebanese army in the town of Froun should have been followed by the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the town of Zawtar Al-Gharbiyah.
“However, instead of preparing to withdraw, the Israeli army has been demolishing houses there in recent days,” the source told Arab News.
“The main obstacle is on the Israeli side.”
Israel-Lebanon talks held in Rome earlier this week in the presence of US mediators were expected to define the pilot zones, while Friday’s military meeting, which has since been postponed, was intended to establish the mechanism for Israel’s withdrawal and the Lebanese army’s subsequent deployment.
“However, it appears that neither Israel nor Hezbollah want this,” the source said.
Retired Brig. Gen. Mounir Chehade said the postponement of the military meeting was not “merely a procedural detail that can be overlooked,” but could be the first tangible sign that implementing the framework agreement would not be straightforward.
He said the Lebanese military’s objection to including towns or areas that were not occupied by Israel during the last war in the two pilot zones was not simply a technical matter but reflected broader concerns over Lebanese sovereignty.
“This is the central point of contention over the ‘pilot zones,’” Chehade told Arab News.
He explained that the framework agreement, according to its circulated provisions, does not provide a detailed legal definition of pilot zones, identify specific villages or explicitly designate them as occupied territory. Instead, their designation was left to a subsequent agreement between the Lebanese and Israeli militaries.
The two sides, however, have differing interpretations of the concept, Chehade said.
Lebanon considers a pilot zone to be territory occupied by Israel during the war, where an Israeli withdrawal would coincide with the deployment of the Lebanese army and the transfer of security control to the state, ensuring that the withdrawal is genuine rather than simply a redeployment.
Israel, by contrast, considers a pilot zone not necessarily to be territory under direct occupation, but an area where the Lebanese army’s ability to establish control and prevent the presence of weapons outside state authority can be tested before the mechanism is expanded to other areas, Chehade said.
He warned that Lebanon’s acceptance of deployment in areas that were not occupied could effectively amount to acknowledging Israel’s right to determine where the Lebanese army should deploy.
“Even more concerning is that any Israeli withdrawal from territories it occupied during the war, in exchange for the Lebanese army’s deployment in other, non-occupied areas, would turn the occupation into a bargaining chip rather than treating it as an act of aggression requiring unconditional withdrawal,” he said.
Chehade also expressed concern that Israel was seeking to establish a new security reality in southern Lebanon that went beyond the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, imposing what he described as new political and security conditions through war and international pressure.
The US delegation to the military coordination committee is headed by Lt. Gen. Joseph Clearfield, who began mediation visits between the Lebanese and Israeli sides a week ago. He has since returned to the US and is expected back in Lebanon on July 23, according to the military source.
Last week, the delegation held talks with the Lebanese army leadership on the mechanisms for implementing an Israeli withdrawal from one of the two pilot areas.
On Thursday, the Lebanese presidency announced that President Joseph Aoun had been informed by US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa that a military delegation would soon arrive in Lebanon to oversee the beginning of the Israeli withdrawal in accordance with the agreement.
The framework agreement does not establish a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, while Israeli officials continue to insist that the army will not pull back from the security zone it has carved out to a depth of 10 km beyond the border unless Hezbollah is disarmed.
Aoun is expected to travel to Washington on an official visit to meet US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
