(The Turkish Post) – Lebanon will send a military delegation to U.S.-backed trilateral talks with Israel in Tampa, Florida, on Oct. 20, President Joseph Aoun said on Oct. 17, as Israeli strikes continue in southern Lebanon four months after the two countries signed a U.S.-brokered framework agreement.
The delegation will present Beirut’s demand for an end to Israeli escalation and seek “outcomes consistent with the framework agreement,” the Lebanese presidency said in a statement posted on X. Aoun has said Israel has not committed to the agreement reached in June.
Joseph Aoun announces Lebanon’s delegation
Aoun made the announcement while receiving a French delegation led by Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut.
Lebanon’s delegation to the trilateral talks will be made up of military officers. Tampa is home to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American forces in the Middle East.
Barrot expressed France’s solidarity with Lebanon and pledged continued support in all sectors, according to the presidency. He said France was ready to mobilize resources for urgent humanitarian needs.
Lebanon seeks to keep UN peacekeepers in the south
Aoun also told Barrot that Lebanon wants the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) extended. The peacekeeping force’s current mandate runs until the end of 2026.
Lebanon would welcome any arrangement that keeps an international presence in the south and prevents a security vacuum, Aoun said. Beirut asked the UN Security Council in September to reconsider the planned withdrawal of the force.
UNIFIL was set up in 1978 and its role was expanded under Security Council Resolution 1701 after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. In August 2025, the council extended its mandate for a final time until Dec. 31, 2026, with its troops to withdraw within the following year.
France has long been one of the main backers of UNIFIL at the Security Council and contributes troops to the mission.
The June framework and the trilateral talks
Israel and Lebanon signed the U.S.-brokered framework on June 26 at the State Department in Washington. Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad signed it in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The agreement sets out a path toward the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups, the deployment of the Lebanese army in areas they leave, and a phased Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.
CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper visited Lebanon on June 29 and met Aoun and the commander of the Lebanese army, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, to discuss how to put the agreement into effect. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Aoun at the White House on July 21.
The trilateral talks have moved slowly since then. A formal round planned in Rome was postponed until October.
Israeli strikes continue in southern Lebanon
Israel began its offensive in Lebanon in early March, after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in U.S. and Israeli strikes. Israeli troops have since advanced into southern Lebanon.
More than 4,380 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, and the ministry puts the toll from Israeli attacks since October 2023 at nearly 9,000. Israeli airstrikes, shelling and demolitions in the south have continued despite the June agreement.
Hezbollah and Israel hold opposing positions
Hezbollah rejects the framework and has said it will not give up its weapons while Israeli troops remain in Lebanon. Its leader, Naim Qassem, has called for Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory without conditions and has described the government’s negotiations with Israel as futile.
Israel insists that Hezbollah be disarmed and that any arrangement on its northern border stop the group from rebuilding its military infrastructure. It wants to keep a security zone in southern Lebanon until that is achieved.
No immediate reaction to Aoun’s announcement from Hezbollah or the Israeli government was reported by late Oct. 17. The Tampa talks are scheduled to open on Oct. 20.
