Jerusalem, July 14 -- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that ongoing negotiations with Lebanon in Rome could help advance the implementation of an agreement covering two "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon from which Israeli forces may withdraw.
Under a framework agreement reached in late June, Israel is expected to gradually pull back its troops from parts of southern Lebanon as Lebanese forces move in and assume control. The two pilot zones would be handed over to the Lebanese army as part of the initial phase of the arrangement.
"We are ready to move forward implementing these two pilot zones," Saar told journalists in Jerusalem. "I hope and tend to believe that this round of discussions in Rome will promote it."The is...