Talks between Israel and Lebanon in Tampa, Florida, ended without agreement after Lebanon rejected an Israeli proposal on monitoring Hezbollah's disarmament, and no follow-up meeting has been scheduled.
Talks between Israel and Lebanon in Tampa, Florida, have ended without an agreement, and no date has been set for another meeting, a US source told Al Hadath. The source said Lebanon rejected an Israeli proposal concerning participation in a mechanism to monitor Hezbollah's disarmament.
The source also said Israel criticized the Lebanese army for "failing" to disarm Hezbollah.
According to the same source, the two sides also could not agree on which countries would supervise security arrangements in southern Lebanon.
The Jerusalem Post reported on October 20, citing two IDF sources, that Israeli and Lebanese officials were meeting at the headquarters of US Central Command (CENTCOM) at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. The sources said the talks aimed to continue implementing the US-brokered framework agreement, which includes the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Ynet reported on October 21 that the talks were scheduled to run for three days, from Tuesday through Thursday. It said they were strictly military and were not another round of direct political negotiations. Ahead of the meetings, Israel had accused the Lebanese Armed Forces of failing to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure in two pilot zones in southern Lebanon, and Lebanon disputed Israel's account.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had said a military delegation would attend the talks.
"A Lebanese military delegation will participate to present Lebanon's demands for an end to Israeli escalation, in the hope of achieving results consistent with the framework agreement," Aoun said.
