'Continuation of security dialogue aimed at ensuring Hezbollah disarmament'

The latest in a series of meeting between Israeli and Lebanese officials took place on Friday at a facility on the border between the two countries, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced, specifying that the central topic of discussion was the disarmament of Hezbollah. 

A source familiar with the details of the Naqoura meeting told i24NEWS: "There was some progress in the meeting towards 'initial steps' regarding economic pilots between Israel and Lebanon. Another meeting is expected in the first half of January."

This comes a day after French, U.S. and Saudi Arabian officials held talks in Paris with the head of the Lebanese Armed Forces in order at finalize the formulation of a mechanism for the disarmament of the terrorist proxy of Iran.

"Today, as scheduled, a meeting of the international mechanism under U.S. auspices was held in Naqoura between Israel and Lebanon. With the approval of the Prime Minister and under the direction of the Acting Head of the National Security Council, Dr. Yosef Draznin, Deputy Head of the NSC for Foreign Policy, took part in the meeting," the statement read.

The meeting represented "a continuation of the security dialogue aimed at ensuring the disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese Armed Forces. Ways to advance economic initiatives were also discussed, in order to demonstrate the mutual interest in removing the Hezbollah threat and to ensure sustainable security for residents on both sides of the border." 

While there's a U.S.-mediated ceasefire in place between Israel and Lebanon that paused the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, fears persist that the truce could collapse, as persistent violations by the Shiite group trigger reprisals from the Israeli military.