At the end of another round of talks that concluded on Wednesday between Israeli and Lebanese representatives in Washington, the US State Department said in a joint statement that, as a result of the US led negotiations, the two countries had agreed on the implementation of a ceasefire.<\/p>\n
The ceasefire, the statement read, was conditional on a complete halt to Hezbollah<\/a> fire, and the evacuation of all its operatives from the area south of the Litani<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was further stated that the two sides had agreed to establishing “pilot zones” in which the Lebanese army will have exclusive control over the area, with no presence of any non-state actor.<\/p>\n These steps, the State Department announced, would “enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n “All parties condemned Iran\u2019s attacks on countries\u202fin the region, and ongoing activities that undermine stability throughout the Middle East, whether through support for\u202fproxies and all other\u202facts of aggression,” the statement read.<\/p>\n Iran has said it will not agree to a deal to end the conflict with the United States and Israel launched in late February unless a ceasefire also covers Lebanon.<\/p>\n Lebanon and Israel agreed to further direct negotiations to build confidence and resolve other outstanding issues, the statement said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Delegations from both Lebanon and Israel had met at the US State Department on Tuesday to begin a scheduled two-day resumption of negotiations<\/a>.<\/p>\n