BEIRUT — Lebanon and Israel have agreed on a shortlist of countries that could send troops to verify the disarmament of Hezbollah under a U.S.-brokered agreement, with Washington expected to select one or more countries from the list, a Lebanese official said on Aug. 7.
The official, who declined to identify the countries or say how many were shortlisted, said the list was drawn up during talks between Lebanese and Israeli representatives at the U.S. embassy in Rome. The discussions focused on implementing a June 26 agreement that links a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon to Hezbollah's disarmament, with the process to be verified by third-party forces.
"We have reached a short list of countries. We decided which parties were impossible for each and set the potential actors," the Lebanese official said. "The Americans will now decide, and could pick more than one country."
Hezbollah was not a party to the agreement and has refused to surrender its weapons, according to Reuters reporting. Another Lebanese official and two foreign diplomats had previously told Reuters that Israel and the United States had vetoed France as a possible contributor. Israel's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions about the shortlist. A U.S. State Department spokesperson described the talks as productive at the technical and expert levels but gave no further details.
Lebanon had rejected an earlier proposal for private security companies to serve as third-party monitors, the Lebanese official said, insisting that the proposed participants be states. The precise size and role of any foreign force, including how it would coordinate with the Lebanese army, remain to be determined.
One option under discussion is to place the foreign troops within the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, whose mandate is due to expire at the end of 2026. The Lebanese official said that arrangement would require a new U.N. Security Council resolution, and that the United States and Israel were now willing to consider such a step. Other possibilities include a separate U.N. framework or an agreement directly with Lebanon.
The Rome talks did not produce agreement on the next area from which Israeli forces would withdraw to allow Lebanese troops to assume control. Lebanon proposed the southern towns of Bint Jbeil and Khiam. The next round of negotiations was scheduled for early September.
