Trump’s “Operations Order” to Netanyahu Frees the Executive Path for Experimental Zones in Lebanon
- US President: The legitimate authority will handle “Hezbollah”... and it will not demolish buildings
Amid what appeared to be a political “operations order” from US President Donald Trump to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging the commencement of withdrawal from parts of Lebanon as a precursor to a potential meeting in the US capital early next week and aimed at “focusing on the larger front” with Iran, and just five days before Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s visit to Washington and his scheduled meeting with the US President next Tuesday, negotiations between Beirut and Tel Aviv achieved a breakthrough in their sixth round in Rome regarding the launch of operations in pilot zones. These zones represent the operational name for the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army from the “Land of Cedars,” in parallel with a similar withdrawal by Hezbollah.
This breakthrough, expected to have its final touches applied in the coming hours and implemented in the next few days, appeared to express Washington’s determination to remove the horse of the Lebanese-Israeli negotiation track from the corral and fortify it with a diluted translation of the outcomes of the Tripartite Framework Formula signed in the US capital on June 26. This places a “seal” on separating the track from the Iranian dimension, albeit in isolation from the possibility of Hezbollah, by Tehran’s decision, reactivating the southern front in connection with a crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, which threatens to ignite war again.
Approximately three hours after the conclusion of the second day of the Rome negotiations, Axios reported that a US State Department official stated, “The talks between Lebanon and Israel concluded after two days of productive and positive discussions,” adding, “We agreed on the structure and guiding principles for the pilot zone process, which will be finalized and implemented in the coming days. We will now move to extensive technical talks, focusing on implementing all areas of the Tripartite Framework with the aim of reaching a comprehensive agreement.”
While a Lebanese source told Al Jazeera that the meeting resulted in an agreement regarding two pilot zones, and that a supplementary meeting for the Rome negotiations would be held, bringing together Lebanese and Israeli military delegations under US patronage, Sky News Arabia reported Lebanese presidential sources as saying that “agreement on the other pilot zones in southern Lebanon will proceed based on the success of the first experiment.”
Lebanese media revealed that the tripartite military meeting would be held virtually on Friday to discuss military details and definitively determine the two pilot zones and the start date of implementation. Meanwhile, the LBCI channel reported that “the pilot zone will initially include Western Zoukater, located north of the Litani River, where the Israeli army is deployed in its vicinity, and another area south of the Litani, initially including Froun al-Ghandourieh, Sareifa, Qalouieh, and Burj Qalouieh, where the Israeli army is deployed and exerts control.”
This breakthrough came amid the glow of Trump’s statement to Fox News that “it would be good for Israel to redeploy in Lebanon to focus on the major issue of Iran,” reiterating that “Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa will be more precise than the Israelis in dealing with Hezbollah, and I know he wants to do this, and he will not demolish buildings.” Nor was it possible to foresee how the executive path, sown with thorns, would navigate the Lebanese army’s refusal to recognize the negotiation track between Beirut and Tel Aviv, or to draw a bold red line against any subordination of its weapons file north of the Litani to a supervisor in which Tel Aviv and Washington would act as the “supervisors,” rather than an internal framework insisted upon to keep its arsenal outside southern Lebanon and after Israel’s withdrawal.
Opponents of Hezbollah argue that this is merely a repeated scenario to buy time, a tactic the party has employed for 20 years since its weapons file was placed on the dialogue table under the banner of “defensive strategy.” They contend that Iran will not facilitate the task of removing Hezbollah’s card from its hand, nor allow “the Land of Cedars” to subsequently exit the “ring of fire” through Washington’s diplomatic track, even at the cost of depriving the small nation of the opportunity for a “second liberation,” this time through diplomacy and state power.
On its second day, the negotiations focused on bridging gaps regarding the disagreement over the approach to “model areas.” The Israeli side demanded that implementation begin with the deployment of the Lebanese army in non-occupied areas, while the Lebanese delegation insisted on its position that withdrawal must begin from occupied towns. This necessitated searching for a compromise solution involving the simultaneous deployment of the Lebanese army in two areas: one occupied, and the other occupied on its periphery.
Lebanon also insisted on establishing a near-term timeline to begin this phase, seeking to frame the sequence of the remaining areas outside the two model zones and to define a time frame for withdrawal from them. Furthermore, it stipulated that the withdrawal should be followed not only by the army’s deployment but also by the return of civilian residents.
The mechanism of withdrawal and verification of the dismantling of any Hezbollah military infrastructure in areas that would become liberated from occupation or from “fire control” was no less complex. A sensitive issue emerged regarding the possibility of entering private properties. Concurrently, the Israeli side insisted that the supervision process after the Lebanese army completes the disarmament be handled by a committee comprising Israel, the U.S. Central Command, and a third party approved by Tel Aviv, which is “not UNIFIL.”
She stated that “the search is focused on the two model areas as a starting point for work, and they are mixed, meaning one area where there is occupation from which the Israelis will withdraw, and another where there is occupation on its periphery.” She noted that “the second issue is the start date for implementing the two model areas. All preparations are underway to begin within days or hours, and a statement specifying the date is expected. We hope it will not exceed the end of this week.”
She clarified that “the scope of the search covers technologies, namely withdrawal and entry, which may require holding another military meeting before implementation.”
She added, “Regarding verification, it is referred to a third party, and there is no problem with several formats. We are open to the American vision, and we have a natural inclination for verification to be carried out by United Nations bodies such as UNIFIL and UNTSO. Several proposals have been discussed, but no final formulation has been reached yet, as any format for any verifying body requires a legal framework.”
Sources confirmed that “there was no request to search private property; rather, the verification mechanism stipulates that Lebanese laws must be respected, and there is no problem under this framework,” adding that “as of now, no concrete idea has emerged regarding the work committees. The initial concept was for the first committee to focus on the complete Israeli withdrawal and post-withdrawal arrangements, but discussions are now centered on the two pilot areas.”
Lebanese presidential sources stated that “any meeting with Netanyahu is completely rejected,” noting that “President Aoun’s visit to Washington will be very brief and will include meetings with Trump and possibly several officials.”
Aoun had previously told his visitors, “What we are doing to confront the war is indispensable, after we have tried everything, including war, which has yielded only tragedies, destruction, and displacement.”
He declared that “negotiation may not be the safest option, but it is currently the only one to achieve the results and objectives we all desire. The ‘framework formula’ is beginning to bear fruit, Washington is now listening to us, and the Lebanon file is on President Donald Trump’s desk.”
Aoun called on everyone to “read the provisions of the framework formula as they are, and not as some promote them for personal motives,” emphasizing that it “safeguards Lebanon’s interests and aligns with the objectives agreed upon by all Lebanese.”
He said, “It is my duty as president to make every effort to save my country and my people. I cannot stand by as a bystander while the country is destroyed and citizens are killed, nor can I allow anyone else to negotiate on behalf of the Lebanese state, which enjoys its sovereignty.”
