Israel has prepared to present Lebanon with a plan calling for “a long-term Israeli military presence” inside southern Lebanon, Israeli media reported.
The proposal is expected to be discussed during direct Israeli-Lebanese talks in Washington, DC on Tuesday, according to Israel's Channel 14.
The draft has been prepared by former Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to the report, the plan would divide southern Lebanon into three zones.
The first would extend from the Israeli border to the "yellow line," roughly 7 to 8 kilometres inside Lebanon, where Israeli forces would maintain an "intensive military presence."
Troops would remain until Hezbollah is fully dismantled.
The second zone would stretch from the yellow line to the Litani River, where Israeli forces will be deployed before gradually handing control to the Lebanese army.
North of the Litani, responsibility for disarmament would rest solely with Beirut.
Channel 14 said Israeli officials privately acknowledge that full disarmament north of the Litani is unlikely soon, but believe Beirut could accept a southern "security belt" in return.
The proposal includes the prospect of a final peace agreement, though this would only take effect after Hezbollah is disarmed.
Israeli and Lebanese officials are expected to meet on Tuesday under US sponsorship.
Israel's public broadcaster KAN has reported that Ambassador Yechiel Leiter will lead the delegation alongside Dermer.
Lebanon's presidency announced the meeting on Friday, though Hezbollah later condemned the move.
Hezbollah called on the Lebanese government to cancel direct talks with Israel ahead of a planned meeting in Washington on Tuesday.
Hezbollah “rejects the futile negotiations with the usurping Israeli entity," the group’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem said Monday in a televised speech.
Qassem stressed that they "will not surrender, and the final word will be decided on the battlefield."
"Israel clearly states that the goal of these negotiations is to disarm Hezbollah, as (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu repeatedly states. So how can you go to negotiations whose objective is already clear?
