A Lebanese ministerial source says the eighth round of border negotiations with Israel, planned for Rome in early September, lacks a confirmed date, leaving the timing to American discretion.
The Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, confirmed that the eighth round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations would take place in Rome in early September, but did not set a specific date. A Lebanese ministerial source involved in the talks said the final scheduling rests with the United States, which sponsors the negotiations and alone can issue invitations to both sides to resume.
The source said reaching a breakthrough that would move the talks forward depends on Washington committing to concrete pressure on Israel to implement the framework agreement. Without such action, the stalled situation would extend past the Israeli Knesset elections on 27 October and the subsequent U.S. midterm elections.
The source assessed that Lebanon faces an involuntary "political hiatus" during this period, intensifying economic, social and living pressures on the government as Lebanon's financial position prevents it from meeting the needs of state institutions, particularly security and military bodies, without sufficient external assistance.
The source suggested Lebanon could avoid entering a crisis management phase if Hezbollah vacates Ali al-Tahir heights in exchange for a ceasefire that would enable implementation of the framework agreement and move it from stalled talks to execution.
Israel has maintained a unilateral military campaign focused on Ali al-Tahir heights and the town of al-Mansouri in Tyre district, and has begun bulldozing and flattening villages within the yellow line demarcation, the source said. Hezbollah has adhered to a ceasefire since the fighting began, according to the source, and has not responded to Israeli breaches and attacks.
The source noted that Hezbollah has rejected multiple proposals to hand over Ali al-Tahir heights either to the army or to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is seen as better positioned to negotiate with the U.S. administration and international community. The source said Berri remains the international community's bet to reach a political settlement enabling implementation of the framework agreement.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has not engaged with proposals that would involve handing over a first batch of heavy weapons in exchange for pressure on Israel to remove obstacles to completing the framework agreement implementation, the source said. The source questioned why the party would withhold weapons it refuses to use while maintaining reliance on an Iran-U.S. memorandum of understanding that remains in "clinical death," awaiting intermediaries to revive it.
The source said there is no longer justification for Hezbollah to retain heavy weapons it declines to use, and that vacating Ali al-Tahir heights would clear the path for Washington to compel Israel to establish a permanent ceasefire. Washington had conveyed this position to President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Speaker Berri and other parties involved in implementing the framework agreement as the sole remaining option after the military solution proved ineffective, the source said.
The source assessed that Hezbollah can no longer correct the military imbalance with Israel or recover lost rules of engagement through its support for Gaza and Iran. Hezbollah leadership now faces a difficult and embarrassing decision requiring support for Aoun's position after two previous ill-conceived backing decisions, the source said.
The source warned that continuing unresolved southern conditions risks gradually transforming the south into a "second Gaza." If Hezbollah abandons its restraint strategy and begins responding to Israel, Israel could threaten areas beyond the south, including Beirut's southern suburbs and Rafic Hariri International Airport, though their neutrality remains in effect by American pressure on Tel Aviv, the source said.
