Washington DC - The Lebanese army began taking charge of security in three southern villages Monday, the US said, as a deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah faced its first test on the ground.
The US State Department said operations had started in "pilot zones" in Froun, Srifa, and Zawtar al-Gharbiya "in accordance with the Trilateral Framework and under the auspices of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon."
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott described the step as "a direct outcome" of talks held between Israeli and Lebanese delegations in Rome last week, adding that Washington would keep working with both sides "to implement the framework to a successful conclusion."
The framework, signed by Lebanon, Israel, and the US on June 26 after several rounds of direct negotiations, envisions a phased Israeli pullback from positions in south Lebanon.
In exchange, the Lebanese Armed Forces are to assume sole security control of vacated areas and certify that they have been cleared of Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure.
The pilot zones are intended to trial the approach in a handful of villages straddling the Litani River before it is extended to other areas.
Hezbollah has rejected the framework, with the Iran-backed group insisting any arrangement in Lebanon be linked to wider negotiations between Washington and Tehran. It has not said whether it will resist implementation in the designated areas.
The agreement does not set a timetable for Israel's withdrawal.
Israeli officials have also vowed that their forces will remain in a "security zone" six miles deep along the frontier for as long as Hezbollah remains armed.
The framework agreement was reached following a fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.