Israel agrees to withdraw from Lebanon pilot zones

Lebanese and Israeli officials ended a sixth round of US-mediated talks in Rome, focused on establishing pilot zones in southern Lebanon from which Israeli forces would begin withdrawing. A US official called the two-day talks productive and positive, and on July 15 the State Department said Israel had agreed to withdraw from the pilot zones.

Why this matters. This is the first concrete Israeli withdrawal commitment since the June 26 framework, turning the pilot-zone concept from a proposal into a scheduled test of whether Lebanon's army can actually take over on the ground.