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

BEIRUT — Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Saturday that Lebanon will take part in US-backed trilateral talks with Israel in Tampa, Florida, on Oct. 20. A military delegation will attend, the presidency said.

Aoun's office published the announcement on X, according to Anadolu Agency. The statement said the delegation will present Lebanon's demands for an end to Israeli escalation. It will also seek "outcomes consistent with the framework agreement," the statement said.

UNIFIL and French visit

Aoun made the remarks while receiving a French delegation led by Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, according to the presidency's statement as reported by Anadolu.

On the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, Aoun said Lebanon wants UNIFIL's mandate extended. He said Lebanon would also welcome any arrangement that keeps an international presence in the south. The aim, he said, is to prevent a power vacuum there.

Barrot expressed French solidarity with Lebanon and continued French support in all sectors, the statement said. It added that he reaffirmed France's readiness to mobilise resources to address urgent humanitarian needs in Lebanon.

What is not yet known

The source material does not say who will lead the Lebanese delegation or who will represent Israel and the United States in Tampa. It also gives no agenda for the meeting and no format for the talks. Nor does it include any Israeli or US comment on the planned session. Anadolu cited only the Lebanese presidency's statement.

The material also does not specify the terms of the framework agreement beyond the general aims described below. Nor does it say what Lebanon means by "outcomes consistent" with it.

Background

According to Anadolu, Israel began what the agency called deadly attacks in southern Lebanon in early March. The agency reported that the bombing has continued despite a US-sponsored framework agreement reached in June.

Anadolu said that agreement was meant to pave the way for an Israeli withdrawal and for the disarmament of Hezbollah. The agency did not give casualty figures or details of recent strikes in the report.

The Tampa meeting would be the next step in a US-sponsored process that the Lebanese presidency links directly to the June framework. Aoun's statement presents the military delegation's task as pressing Israel to halt its escalation while keeping to that agreement.

UNIFIL, the UN force deployed in southern Lebanon, is the subject of the mandate question Aoun raised with the French delegation. The source material does not give the current expiry date of its mandate or say what position other governments have taken on an extension.