BEIRUT: A Lebanon ceasefire effort advanced Friday as a US military delegation arrived to support a framework agreement aimed at ending fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Financial Times reported.
Two senior Lebanese officials told the newspaper that the United States Central Command sent officials to Beirut before technical talks between Lebanon and Israel in Rome next week.
The talks will focus on implementing a US-sponsored framework agreement reached on June 26. The plan provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
Anadolu quoted a US State Department spokesperson as saying CENTCOM was coordinating closely with both countries.
The spokesperson said Israel and Lebanon had reached the implementation stage.
The spokesperson said the first pilot zone for an expected Israeli withdrawal would launch within days, according to Anadolu.
Read: Hezbollah Lebanon-Israel Talks Exclude Weapons, Chief Warns
However, Israel’s military said it killed a Hezbollah fighter near an underground tunnel shaft at Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon. It said the fighter posed an immediate threat to soldiers.
The Israeli military said a separate strike killed a person travelling in a vehicle inside its declared security zone. It said the person also posed a threat to Israeli soldiers.
The developments came as Israeli operations and settler attacks continued across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
Read: Trump Says Hezbollah Agreed To Stop Attacks On Israel
Wafa reported incidents in Beit Furik, Masafer Yatta, Jenin, Huwarah and Al-Mughayyir. It said residents suffered injuries, gas inhalation and arrests during raids and settler attacks.
Palestinians and solidarity activists also flew kites toward the Har Bracha settlement from Burin, south of Nablus, during the 13th Burin Kite Festival, according to AFP images.
