Lead:
The sixth round of direct Lebanese-Israeli negotiations resumed in Rome on Wednesday under American sponsorship, with Israeli withdrawal from remaining positions in southern Lebanon emerging as the central point of contention. The talks coincide with intensive diplomatic preparations for Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's visit to Washington, scheduled for Saturday, as Beirut seeks to secure a concrete Israeli withdrawal commitment before the trip in order to strengthen its negotiating hand with the Trump administration.
Details:
According to Al-Addiyar, diplomatic sources described the first session of the Rome talks as broadly positive and a foundation for further progress, though significant issues remain unresolved and require additional discussion. The same publication reports that maps presented during the negotiations identified two specific withdrawal zones in the eastern and central sectors where Israeli forces are currently deployed, marking a degree of Israeli readiness to discuss partial redeployment. Al-Addiyar further notes, citing accompanying sources, that Lebanon is actively working to extract an Israeli withdrawal paper before President Aoun departs for Washington, in parallel with Lebanese army deployment in the relevant areas.
Al-Addiyar also cautions that political equations continue to govern the trajectory of negotiations, with diplomatic circles indicating that the sixth Rome round will not in itself produce a political resolution. Rather, its significance lies in launching legal and technical working groups that will handle detailed implementation. Newsd reports that outstanding points of contention continue to shadow the talks, with disagreement persisting over the precise mechanism and sequencing of the initial withdrawal, and that neither delegation has yet signaled a definitive breakthrough.
On the domestic political front, Al-Addiyar reports that the "Lubnan al-Qawi" bloc, chaired by Member of Parliament Jebran Bassil, held its regular meeting and formally called on the government to brief Lebanese citizens on the full content and progress of the framework agreement negotiations with Israel, arguing that transparency is a civic obligation. Separately, Al-Addiyar reports that the Lebanese army commander, General Rudolf Heikal, received United Nations Special Coordinator Jean Arnault at his office in Yarze, where discussions covered the general situation in Lebanon and the broader regional context. Speaker Nabih Berri also received Arnault at his Ain al-Tineh residence for similar consultations.
Al-Akhbar reported that Lebanon has been relisted among global hunger hotspots by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme, underscoring the mounting economic pressures facing the country alongside the ongoing security and diplomatic tensions.
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