Lebanon and Israel opened a seventh round of direct negotiations at the US embassy in Rome on Tuesday, seeking agreement on further Israeli withdrawals and Lebanese army deployments in southern Lebanon.

Motorcades carrying the delegations arrived at the embassy on 4 August. The Lebanese team is led by former ambassador Simon Karam, while Israel’s delegation is headed by its ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter.

The US-mediated talks are scheduled to continue until Thursday. They are the second round held in Rome after five earlier meetings in Washington and two days of negotiations in the Italian capital on 14 and 15 July.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem condemned the negotiations shortly before the latest session began.

Direct talks would bring Lebanon “nothing but shame, humiliation and successive compromises”, Qassem said in a televised address.

He also accused President Joseph Aoun of failing to act as “an arbiter” or “a unifying figure”, saying he had instead become “biased and divisive”.

Qassem did not offer an alternative capable of securing an Israeli withdrawal or explain how continued armed resistance would achieve that objective without exposing Lebanon to further fighting.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke to Karam and Leiter before the negotiations and urged them to work constructively towards shared solutions that would allow the full implementation of the framework agreement signed on 26 June.

That agreement followed five rounds of negotiations and provides for the disarmament of armed groups — an apparent reference to Hezbollah — the deployment of Lebanese state forces and a progressive Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory.

The framework does not set a timetable for either disarmament or withdrawal. The parties have also not agreed on who will verify the removal of weapons or how that verification will work.

Negotiations in July established guidelines for a system of “pilot zones”, where Israeli forces would withdraw, the Lebanese army would deploy and weapons outside state control would be removed.

The first withdrawal took place at Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh in July. Lebanese troops subsequently entered the town and allowed residents to return after engineering and clearance work.

The Italian Foreign Ministry said Lebanese forces had also redeployed in the Froun-Srifa area, describing the deployments as evidence of initial progress.

Conditions around Zawtar nevertheless exposed the difficulty of extending the programme. Israeli forces remained stationed in neighbouring areas, while much of the town was uninhabitable after bombardment, residents and officials told Reuters.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said Beirut is seeking successive withdrawals leading to the removal of all Israeli forces from Lebanon.

Israel says it will retain troops in southern Lebanon for as long as Hezbollah remains armed. Its forces currently control territory extending about 10 kilometres inside Lebanon, which Israel describes as a security buffer needed to protect its northern communities.

Lebanon regards the deployment as an occupation and is expected to seek agreement on additional withdrawals before discussing wider political and border questions.

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa cautioned against implementing new zones before the practical arrangements were settled, saying both parties needed “a clear and practical mechanism” to protect civilians.

The latest war began on 2 March, when Hezbollah fired at Israel after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Israel responded with extensive air strikes and a ground advance into southern Lebanon.

Fighting has decreased substantially since the June framework, but Israel has continued demolitions and explosions in areas under its control. Israeli authorities say the operations target Hezbollah’s military infrastructure.

In a separate part of Tuesday’s address, Qassem said Hezbollah would not object to a public meeting with Syria’s new leadership if both sides considered the timing appropriate.

Hezbollah fought alongside former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s forces from 2013, leaving deep hostility between the group and the former rebels who now govern Syria. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has ruled out military intervention in Lebanon but said in June that talks with Hezbollah were possible if they served Lebanese and Syrian interests.

No account of the first negotiating session had been released by Lebanon, Israel or the United States at the time of publication. The Rome meetings are due to continue until 6 August.