Lebanon and Israel are set to begin new talks in Washington, with Beirut determined to press ahead with direct negotiations despite the US-Iran deal.

Background

The talks come after four rounds of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations since April failed to produce a durable ceasefire. The longest lull in fighting came this week after Iran and the US agreed to a memorandum of understanding that stipulated fighting would halt across all fronts, including Lebanon.

A Lebanese official expressed skepticism that any tangible progress would come out of the negotiations, citing a fundamental problem of trust between the two sides. Lebanon has said that one of its key goals in the talks would be securing an Israeli military withdrawal, but top Israeli officials have said that troops would remain in southern Lebanon indefinitely.

Israeli Position

Israel sees the purpose of the upcoming talks as disarming Hezbollah and achieving a genuine peace agreement with Lebanon. The Israeli government has stated that the only impediment to a deal with Lebanon is Hezbollah, which Israel believes should be disarmed and dismantled.

The Lebanese government has moved carefully to disarm Hezbollah without confronting the group directly, fearing it would spark a civil conflict. Hezbollah has rejected disarming in full and has called on the government to withdraw from its direct talks with Israel.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.