Lebanonupdated 52m ago2 min read
Joseph Aoun Announces Lebanon And Israel US-Backed Talks In Tampa, Florida On October 20
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US-backed trilateral talks Lebanon-Israel to occur in Tampa on October 20. Lebanese military delegation will present Beirut's demands at the negotiations.
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Talks in Tampa
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announced that Lebanon and Israel will participate in US-backed trilateral talks in Tampa, Florida, on October 20, and he said a Lebanese military delegation would attend to present Lebanon's demands. Aoun said the delegation would seek outcomes consistent with the US-sponsored framework agreement, and he reaffirmed Lebanon's commitment to extending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
“Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announced Saturday that Lebanon and Israel will participate in US-backed trilateral talks in Tampa, Florida, on October 20.”
Aoun stressed the importance of preventing a security vacuum following the expiration of UNIFIL's current mandate, while Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Paris was ready to mobilize resources to address Lebanon's urgent humanitarian needs. The Saudi Gazette said the diplomatic developments came as Israeli military operations continue in southern Lebanon despite a US-sponsored framework agreement reached in June, and it said Israel launched its latest military offensive in southern Lebanon in early March.
Demands and ceasefire
The Times of Israel said a Lebanese military delegation would present Beirut's demands for an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon at a trilateral meeting in Tampa, Florida, on October 20. The Times of Israel said Beirut vowed to disarm Hezbollah under a deal reached through US-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks, and it said Israel would then withdraw its troops gradually from Lebanon.
The Times of Israel said Hezbollah refused to disarm as long as Israeli forces remained on Lebanese land, and it said Israel continued striking terror targets in southern Lebanon that it said were violating the agreement. The y alibnan report said the June 26 framework agreement aimed at disarming Hezbollah and securing an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and it said Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated that Lebanon will not concede any territory.
Security, talks, and memory
The Associated Press said the latest Israel-Hezbollah war pushed Lebanon and Israel into direct negotiations that brought a long-forgotten Lebanese Jewish community back under the spotlight again. The Associated Press said Israel agreed to release five civilians detained by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon in exchange for Lebanon's help in searching for the bodies of Lebanese Jewish leaders abducted and killed in the 1980s during Lebanon's civil war.
The Associated Press quoted Rabbi Elie Abadie, who said, "From that day on, the Jewish community in Lebanon felt very insecure and threatened," and it described his hope to come back one day to reopen Beirut's long-shuttered central synagogue. The Naharnet report said US-sponsored negotiations between Lebanon and Israel were expected to resume in Tampa, Florida, and it said discussions in Tampa were expected to focus on military, security, and ground-level arrangements aimed at solidifying the existing ceasefire and finalizing the framework agreement.