BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Lebanon and Israel completed a new round of Washington-mediated negotiations in Rome on Wednesday, agreeing to implement the “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon agreed under a recent framework deal, a US official said.

“Talks concluded after two days of productive and positive discussions,” the official said in a statement shared by the US embassy in Beirut, adding that the participants “agreed on the structure and guidelines for the pilot zone process, to be finalised and implemented in the coming days”.

The US-brokered negotiations took place in the Italian capital over the framework agreement sealed last month after five rounds of talks in Washington, with Lebanese negotiators hoping for progress on an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.