Lebanon and Israel agree on observer list in Rome, withdrawal stalls

Lebanon and Israel agreed during the latest round of talks in Rome on a shortlist of countries that could send troops to verify Hezbollah disarmament, but failed to reach an agreement on the next area from which Israeli forces would withdraw to allow Lebanese forces to take over.

Lebanon and Israel agreed during the latest round of talks in Rome on a shortlist of countries that could send troops to verify Hezbollah’s disarmament under the US-brokered agreement, but failed to reach an agreement on the next area from which Israeli forces would withdraw to allow Lebanese forces to take over.

A Lebanese source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the two sides reached a shortlist of candidate countries to participate in the verification mission, after excluding countries rejected by either side, narrowing options to countries acceptable to both, with the final decision resting with the United States, which can choose one or more countries.

France excluded and private security firms rejected

Another Lebanese official and two foreign diplomats had earlier told Reuters that Israel and the United States had excluded France from the list, while Beirut rejected a proposal to assign the verification of Hezbollah’s disarmament to private security companies, insisting that states should handle it.

A Lebanese source said all currently proposed parties are states, but negotiations have not yet decided on the number of troops that would participate, their deployment method, or the mechanism for coordinating their work with the Lebanese army.

Deploying foreign troops in Lebanon requires a legal framework to regulate their mission, which could be done by placing them under the umbrella of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), whose mandate expires at the end of this year, requiring a new UN Security Council resolution.

Lebanon and Israel have agreed to a shortlist of potential foreign troop contributors to oversee Hezbollah’s disarmament, despite the group’s rejection of the agreement https://t.co/eo0z7Eh8FL

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) August 8, 2026

Progress on several files and disagreement over withdrawal

In parallel, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that the Rome round of talks had made positive progress on several files, including the ceasefire, stopping the demolition and leveling of homes, the border demarcation issue, prisoner exchanges, and determining experimental areas.

However, the negotiation track regarding the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon remained stalled over determining the next area from which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw to transfer control to the Lebanese army, as Israel rejected Beirut’s request to designate a new withdrawal area, conditioning first on “verification” that the Lebanese army has completed its control over two areas where it had previously deployed under the framework agreement.

Framework agreement

Lebanon and Israel concluded a framework agreement on June 26 after five rounds of negotiations in Washington. The agreement stipulates the disarmament of Hezbollah—which Hezbollah rejects—as well as the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from areas it controls in southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army starting from two “experimental areas.”

The Lebanese army deployed on July 21 in the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, one of the two experimental areas, after Israeli forces withdrew from its outskirts, and also reinforced its deployment in the towns of Sarifa and Froun.

Under the agreement, the Lebanese army is supposed, after deploying in these two areas, to disarm Hezbollah and prohibit any military presence of any group outside government forces, with that serving as a test for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from other areas.

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