Israel and Lebanon signed a framework peace agreement on Friday after several days of talks in Washington.
"Today is the first step. This first step sometimes is the hardest one, but it's an important one, and the one we've taken together," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
The agreement was signed by Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the US, and Nada Hamadeh, ambassador of Lebanon.
Ms Hamadeh said the meeting was "long and difficult" but that it would ultimately lead to restoring her country's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and "securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, enabling our people to go back to our land".
Mr Leiter described the agreement as "performance-based", and said the "train has been put back on the tracks" towards peace.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a statement posted on X thanked the US for facilitating the agreement, which he said works towards a future in which there is "no occupation, no captives, no subservience".
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that Israel will maintain its security zone within the borders of the Yellow Line in Lebanon until Hezbollah and other groups are disarmed. It added that the Israeli military would continue to "eliminate threats of any kind" within the security zone.
The statement said that Israel and Lebanon had agreed on two areas near the "yellow line" - which marks Israeli-held territory - where there would be a pilot for the dismantling of Hezbollah and the transfer of the territory to the control of the Lebanese army.
The Lebanese embassy confirmed the two pilot areas and non-state armed group disarmament, saying the measures "constitute the first step toward a gradual and comprehensive withdrawal from all Lebanese territory, in full respect of Lebanon’s sovereignty".
"This achievement marks an important step toward restoring Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent cessation of hostilities, enabling displaced citizens to return to their homes, and allowing all Lebanese to live in peace, security and prosperity," it said.
The conflict in Lebanon has become a major focal point for continuing discussions between Washington and Tehran aimed at cementing an end to the conflict. Part of the initial agreement between Iran and the US stipulates a permanent end to fighting in Lebanon.
Israel has reacted angrily to the preliminary agreement between the US and Iran. It was not involved in negotiating the deal despite being one of the main parties to the conflict.
Israeli officials are particularly concerned that the agreement requires an end to fighting in Lebanon, where Israel has been battling Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Lebanese officials, meanwhile, worry that the deal could leave Iran in a stronger position, making Hezbollah even less willing to give up its weapons. By insisting that Lebanon be included in its agreement with Washington, Tehran has also left Beirut in an awkward position, as the government attempts to push for Hezbollah's disarmament while trying to repel Iran's influence.
US and Gulf allies released a statement on Thursday saying that negotiations between Iran and Washington should not rely on the outcomes of other conflicts, and that all non-state groups should be disarmed.
Hezbollah is unlikely to agree to any plan that would include its disarmament throughout the country. The group has maintained that it is only required by previous agreements and UN resolutions to disarm in the area south of the Litani River, near Lebanon’s border with Israel.
Elizabeth Tsurkov, senior research fellow with Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, said the agreement marked "a welcomed development and an important first step toward reclaiming Lebanese sovereignty," but cautioned that Israel's commitment to further withdrawals appeared limited.
She said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's earlier remarks suggested Israel intended to maintain its military presence in the original yellow line along the border until Hezbollah is disarmed.
Under that interpretation, she explained, Israel would only withdraw from a handful of towns it occupies outside that area, including Zawtar Al Sharqiyeh, Zawtar Al Gharbiyeh, Ghandouriyeh, Hadatha, Beit Yahoun and Mazraat Buyut Al Sayyad, while it has already partially pulled back from Kafr Tibnit.
Ms Tsurkov said that would leave only a small number of additional areas that could be handed over to the Lebanese army under the phased arrangement before negotiations risk reaching an impasse, given Beirut's continued difficulty in disarming Hezbollah.
Alan Eyre, former US diplomat and distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute, said he did not believe Washington was investing significant effort in regional diplomacy. Instead, he said, the administration was focused on extricating itself from the conflict with Iran and had become involved in Lebanon only because it was part of that broader effort.
"The US administration is essentially indifferent to Lebanon qua Lebanon," Mr Eyre told The National. "Lebanon is not unique in being caught in the middle of this war. Others in the same situation are the GCC countries and the people of Iran."
He said Lebanon's political and security challenges long predated the current conflict and would persist "as long as weak governance precludes finding a way to successfully deal with the challenges posed by Hezbollah, and Israel seeks to secure its security through solely military means".
