Israel-Lebanon: new talks on 4 August in Rome

A new round of talks between Israel and Lebanon is due to take place in Rome on 4 August. This was announced today by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani during a hearing with Defence Minister Guido Crosetto before the joint Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

The first round of talks, which took place last week at the US Embassy, had been proposed by Tajani, first to his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar and to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, and finally to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Deputy Prime Minister spoke positively about the meetings, stating that “significant progress had been made in defining the first pilot zones, from which the withdrawal of the Israeli Armed Forces and the handover to the Lebanese Armed Forces will begin”.

Italy’s role as a mediator therefore appears to be working for the time being, a position lent credibility by solid relations with both sides and Italy’s long-standing participation in the UNIFIL mission. This latter factor, however, risked creating mistrust on the Israeli side, given that Tel Aviv and Washington have recently expressed opposition to the possibility of the UN mission taking charge of monitoring operations. The dialogue, however, is continuing: “To consolidate this process, a stable regional framework is needed first and foremost. Faced with a crisis that has been dragging on for some time, we are convinced that diplomacy remains the only viable path,” said the Foreign Minister.

During the hearing, which focused on the NATO summit in Ankara in early July, Tajani also announced another initiative concerning the Middle East: on 28 and 29 July, the Deputy Prime Minister will chair a meeting in Rome of the Global Alliance for the Two-State Solution, alongside the Saudi Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. “We will give new impetus to the New York Declaration that we signed last year. The meeting will have a strong focus on interfaith dialogue, an issue to which we are very sensitive and which is crucial for strengthening the prospects for peace,” Tajani said.

Finally, in November, Rome will also host the first meeting of the ‘Friends of the Gulf Group’ with the region’s trade ministers, with a view to “boosting our companies’ exports, trade relations and investment with those countries”.