Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will head to Rome this week for talks focusing on future of the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, whose mandate ends this year, a Lebanese official told AFP. The visit scheduled for Thursday comes after Italy and France said in June that they wanted to set up a multinational coalition to succeed the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Both countries have large troop contingents in UNIFIL. Aoun is to meet his counterpart Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to discuss "the future of the international forces, particularly in light of the French-Italian initiative to set up a force to replace UNIFIL", the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. Aoun will also meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican and brief him on "the contacts Lebanon has been making since negotiations began" with Israel, the official added. Lebanon and Israel launched US-sponsored direct talks after the Iran-backed Hezbollah group drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion. Rome has hosted the last two rounds of talks. Aoun has said Lebanon's preferred choice is an extension of UNIFIL's mandate, a move opposed by Israel. On Monday, he said that "the second choice is adopting a formula that ensures the continued presence of international forces in the south" alongside Lebanon's army "and in coordination with it". A framework agreement reached in June between Israel and Lebanon calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in "pilot zones". Despite a weeks-long lull in fighting, Israel has kept up intermittent strikes and heavy demolition operations in south Lebanon, where its forces are operating in a strip of territory around 10 kilometers (six miles) deep inside the Lebanese border. Lebanon and several other countries fear a security vacuum if UNIFIL pulls out without an alternative in place. In a June report, UN chief Antonio Guterres said peacekeepers would be needed after UNIFIL's mission ends and proposed three options ranging from nearly 2,000 to more than 5,500 UN personnel. Last month, 86 Lebanese lawmakers signed a letter urging the Security Council to keep the peacekeepers. UNIFIL, which now counts some 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries, has been in place since 1978, although its presence has not prevented repeated outbreaks of conflict.
