"Framework Agreement" between Lebanon and Israel faces first test on the ground

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The Lebanese army began securing three villages in southern Lebanon starting Monday, in the first real-world test of the framework agreement.

After several rounds of direct negotiations, Lebanon, Israel and the United States signed on June 26 the agreement that calls for a phased Israeli withdrawal from the south and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

This comes on the eve of an anticipated meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday.

The US State Department announced the start of implementation in the "pilot areas" in southern Lebanon (villages of Frun, Sarifa, and Zawtar al-Gharbiya), according to the framework agreement and under the supervision of the Lebanon Military Coordination Team.

In a statement, the State Department said this step comes as a "direct result of talks held last week between Israel and Lebanon in Rome."

The US State Department also pledged to continue working closely with both parties to implement the framework agreement.

A Lebanese military source told BBC that these areas are not under Israeli army control and have no Israeli forces inside them, noting that the Lebanese army had previously deployed in these areas before reinforcing its presence there last week.

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The purpose of the pilot areas is to test the feasibility of the agreement in several villages on both sides of the Litani River before expanding to other areas in the south.

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A source in the Lebanese army told Agence France-Presse that the forces have already begun intensifying patrols in a number of villages adjacent to areas under Israeli control in southern Lebanon, including the village of 'Frun'.

The framework agreement was reached after a 'fragile' ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which has not announced whether it will resist the implementation of the framework agreement in the designated pilot areas.

Hezbollah rejects the framework agreement and insists that any agreement in Lebanon must come within broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

The framework agreement does not set a timeline for the Israeli withdrawal from the south, although Israeli officials had pledged to keep their forces in a 'security zone' about 10 kilometers deep into southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains armed.

Israel continues to launch occasional strikes on southern Lebanon and carries out demolition operations in villages it occupies near the border.

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