Israeli, Lebanese military officials set to hold talks in Washington today

Israel and Lebanon will reconvene for negotiations today at the Pentagon, with military officials from both sides set to discuss steps aimed at combating Hezbollah.

While negotiators have held three rounds of talks in recent weeks at the State Department, this will be the first meeting of strictly military personnel after the sides agreed to split the process into security and diplomatic tracks.

Accordingly, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter will not be participating in the Friday talks at the Pentagon, an embassy official said yesterday.

The first meeting of the diplomatic track will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday next week at the State Department.

The Israeli embassy official said no major announcements are expected following Friday’s meeting, and the sides still face an uphill battle to reach a deal that would see the countries normalize ties and successfully disarm Hezbollah, which is adamantly opposed to the process.

Israel issued sweeping evacuation orders to residents in seven towns and villages today ahead of airstrikes on southern Lebanon, adding to evacuation orders across the region on Wednesday. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group has launched a surge of drones on northern Israel in recent days, including one that killed Israeli soldier Rotem Yanai on Wednesday in a hit on a military zone on the Israeli side of the border.

JTA contributed to this report.