Seventh round of Israel-Lebanon talks begins - what's on the agenda?

A seventh round of United States-mediated talks has begun in the Italian capital with the aim of establishing new "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon from which Israeli forces will begin withdrawing, and the Lebanese army will assume control.

The three-day Israel-Lebanon diplomatic talks in Rome come as Israeli forces continue to strike southern Lebanon despite having agreed to a conditional ceasefire in early June.

Since then, Israel has occupied nearly one-fifth of Lebanon from the south and has killed more than 4,000 people since fighting erupted in March. More than one million people have been displaced from their homes as Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah strongholds, mostly in the south of the country and in the suburbs of the capital, Beirut.

Under a US-brokered, June 26 framework deal, Israeli forces had agreed to withdraw from large swaths of southern Lebanon they are still occupying, in exchange for the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. However, this has not happened yet.

The Israel-Lebanon framework outlined a "sequenced process" under which the Lebanese army would restore "effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory, pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups" - a clear reference to Hezbollah.

The deal did not directly mandate complete Israeli withdrawal from the 20 percent of Lebanese land it currently occupies. Instead, it noted that Israel should "progressively redeploy" out of Lebanon, offering two "pilot zones" in which the Lebanese military "will gradually assume full and effective security responsibility".

In June, after the framework agreement was signed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video statement shortly afterwards, stressing that it would allow the Israeli military to remain in the occupied Lebanese land.

"We will maintain [the buffer zone] until Hezbollah disarms and as long as there is a threat to the State of Israel," Netanyahu said.

On Sunday, a Lebanese official told Anadolu that in the seventh round of talks, Lebanon will propose designating new pilot areas for an Israeli withdrawal, with the second phase covering either Bint Jbeil or Khiam, both south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon.

Israeli officials have said they will remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains armed, however.

Hezbollah is not a direct party to the talks despite being one of the parties technically at war.

Hezbollah's secretary-general, Naim Qassem, has said Lebanon's direct negotiations with Israel "bring Lebanon nothing other than shame, humiliation, disappointment and constant concessions". However, he has voiced support for the deployment of the Lebanese army south of the Litani River.

On Tuesday, he denounced the talks in a televised speech marking the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, the end of Ashura.

Qassem also criticised Aoun's role, saying he "did not act as an arbiter and unifier, but instead became a source of division, and this is entirely inconsistent with both his role and Lebanon's strength".

In response, Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam attacked Hezbollah, accusing it of dragging the country into "futile wars".

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa has said he is "encouraged" by ongoing talks in Rome and stressed that both sides "must agree" on a clear process.

In a statement on Sunday, Issa said there is still a lot of technical work to be done and that moving "too quickly" could jeopardise civilian safety.

"There is a meaningful difference between drafting an agreement on paper and implementing it responsibly - moving too quickly risks jeopardising the very civilians this process is meant to protect," he said.

"We believe it is better to take the time needed to get this right the first time. Doing so will allow subsequent pilot zones to move forward more efficiently," he added.

However, Heiko Wimmen, who oversees the Iraq, Syria, Lebanon project at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that there are contradictory signals around these talks.

"Washington seeks to widen the scope towards a full peace process, while Israel seems to prefer slow-rolling implementation of what has been agreed, and continues actions - like house demolition, burning of olive groves - that seem to point in the other direction," he said.