Zain Khalil / Anadolu

A US State Department official said on Wednesday that Washington, in coordination with Beirut and Tel Aviv, reached an agreement on the outlines of a mechanism for the Israeli army's withdrawal from "two pilot areas" in southern Lebanon, with implementation to begin in the coming days.

This came, according to the private Hebrew Channel 13 quoting the official, who was not named, at the conclusion of a round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel held in the Italian capital Rome with American mediation.

The US official described the talks as "fruitful and positive."

He said: "We agreed on the outlines and mechanism for withdrawal from the pilot area, and agreement on its details will be completed, with implementation to begin in the coming days."

He added: "We will now move to expanded technical talks, which will focus on implementing all the provisions of the tripartite framework agreement, with the aim of reaching a comprehensive agreement between Israel and Lebanon."

Earlier on Wednesday, a Lebanese source told Anadolu, preferring not to be identified, that implementation of the "two pilot areas" plan would begin "within days," in response to a Lebanese request.

The source added that the Rome talks made progress and discussed in detail the mechanism for implementing the framework agreement and the timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory.

According to Channel 13, the framework agreement, signed on June 26, stipulates the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south of the country, the disarmament of Hezbollah, and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the areas where they are deployed.

No official comment was issued by either the Lebanese or Israeli governments regarding the outcome of the talks.