Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome to urge international pressure on Israel to implement their US-brokered framework agreement. The June 26 agreement links Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah's disarmament, but Israel has vacated only two pilot zones while continuing daily strikes. Meanwhile, planning is underway for a successor security force to replace UNIFIL when its mandate expires in December 2026, amid warnings of a security vacuum.
Aoun seeks international pressure
- ▪Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to pressure Israel to comply with the implementation of the US-brokered framework agreement.
- ▪Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on August 21, 2026, to discuss bilateral cooperation and regional security.
- ▪Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Pope Leo XIV on August 20, 2026, to request Vatican diplomatic support in ending the Israeli occupation and attacks.
- ▪Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella during his two-day visit to Rome to discuss Lebanese-Italian relations and regional developments.
Israeli occupation of Lebanon
- ▪An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on August 15, 2026, killed 11 people, including senior Hezbollah commander Abu Hassan Alaa.
- ▪Israeli military forces continue to occupy approximately six percent of Lebanese territory, including areas held for decades and lands seized during the 2023-2024 conflict.
- ▪Israeli military strikes in Lebanon since March 2, 2026, have killed 4,348 people and injured more than 12,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Hezbollah armed resistance strategy
- ▪Hezbollah has denounced the US-backed framework agreement, claiming it fails to guarantee a full Israeli withdrawal or the return of displaced residents.
- ▪Hezbollah official Nawaf Moussawi rejected domestic and international pressure to disarm, warning that any internal armed confrontation against the resistance would destroy Lebanon.
- ▪Senior Hezbollah official Nawaf Moussawi stated that the group will continue armed resistance, asserting that only force can compel Israel to withdraw from Lebanon.
Post-UNIFIL security force planning
- ▪The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is scheduled to withdraw from southern Lebanon by December 31, 2026, following a final mandate renewal in 2025.
- ▪Italy and France are planning to establish a post-UNIFIL security force backed by NATO, which Lebanese President Joseph Aoun supports alongside the Lebanese Armed Forces.
- ▪The United States and Israel oppose the European-led security proposal, advocating instead for a US-led force to assume security responsibilities in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese-Israeli direct negotiations
- ▪The US-brokered framework agreement signed on June 26, 2026, links Hezbollah's disarmament to Israeli military withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces.
- ▪Israel has withdrawn from only two of the designated 'pilot zones' established under the framework agreement, while continuing daily military strikes in southern Lebanon.
- ▪Lebanon and Israel have held seven rounds of direct negotiations since April 14, 2026, with five rounds in Washington and two rounds in Rome.
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