اجتماع افتراضي إسرائيلي - لبناني يطلق اختبار «المناطق التجريبية»

Today (Friday), attention is focused on the virtual military meeting that will bring together delegations from Lebanon and Israel under the direct auspices of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), marking the first executive milestone since the conclusion of the sixth round of negotiations hosted by the Italian capital, Rome.

Finalizing the format for the two experimental areas

The meeting is not limited to discussing military arrangements; it is expected to finalize the format for the two experimental areas that were agreed upon in principle in Washington and whose initial outlines were drawn in Rome, paving the way for field implementation in the coming days.

The delegations will discuss, according to the data, the mechanism for the Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army, as well as coordination and monitoring mechanisms, alongside the technical details specific to the first phase of implementation. The meeting represents a crucial station for defining the boundaries of the two experimental areas and the working mechanisms within them, after the decision to cancel a direct meeting in Naqoura due to the Lebanese army's insistence on rejecting a meeting in an area still under Israeli occupation, which was replaced by a meeting via video conferencing.

From understandings to field testing

According to the data as well, the experimental phase includes two areas comprising seven southern towns: to the north of the Litani River are the towns of Al-Zoutr Al-Sharqiya and Al-Zoutr Al-Gharbiya, while the second area extends south of the Litani to include the towns of Frun, Al-Ghandouriya, Qalaouiya, Barj Qalaouiya, and Sarifa. The selection of these specific towns reflects an effort to test a security model in areas with varying field conditions between towns that are in direct contact with the Israeli occupation and others where the Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces have been deployed in previous stages.

The utmost importance of today's meeting lies in the actual transition from the phase of political understandings to field testing. The success of the experiment means that the understandings have become an executable path that may later expand to other areas, while any setbacks could complicate calculations further. Here, the most sensitive question arises regarding how to implement the security provisions and withdraw weapons in villages where the social and military structure of Hezbollah has intertwined for many years without clashing with its environment.

The path of American-Iranian understandings

At the heart of this scene, Hezbollah's position remains the most significant element of uncertainty, as the party faces a different reality after the regional bets it relied upon faltered, foremost among them the path of American-Iranian understandings. The party's failure to announce a detailed position so far leaves the door open to multiple possibilities, ranging from granting the state a margin to fulfill its commitments to rearranging the papers or registering field objections if it feels that the proposed measures affect its security balances.

As Washington races against time to achieve tangible progress on this file in the coming days, driven by its desire to turn the understandings from Rome into a practical step that enhances Lebanon's negotiating position and gives momentum to the process ahead of President Joseph Aoun's anticipated visit to the United States early next week. However, the success of this approach will remain contingent on the ability of the concerned parties to translate the written commitments into solid reality on the ground. Will these experimental areas serve as a genuine entry point for stabilizing security, or will they ignite confrontation?