Lebanon to join US-backed talks with Israel on Oct. 20

Lebanon will take part in US-backed trilateral talks with Israel in Tampa, Florida, on Oct. 20, President Joseph Aoun said on Saturday, according to Anadolu Agency.

A military delegation will attend the meeting to present Beirut’s demands for an end to Israeli escalation and seek “outcomes consistent with the framework agreement,” Aoun said in a statement released by the presidency on “X”.

Aoun made the remarks while receiving a French delegation led by Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.

Lebanon wants to extend UNIFIL’s mandate and welcomes any arrangement that would ensure an ongoing international presence in the country’s south to prevent a power vacuum, Aoun said.

Barrot expressed France’s solidarity with Lebanon and its continued support across all sectors. He also reaffirmed France’s readiness to mobilize resources to meet urgent humanitarian needs in the country, the statement said.

Israel began deadly attacks in southern Lebanon in early March and has continued bombing despite a US-sponsored framework agreement reached in June that paved the way for an Israeli withdrawal and the disarmament of Hezbollah.