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Trump meets Aoun
President Donald Trump met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House on Tuesday and promised the United States would “help” Lebanon amid continued occupation of the south by Israeli forces.
Trump told Aoun, “We’re gonna help it a lot,” while the AP reported that the meeting pledged help “a lot” without giving concrete details.
The Al Jazeera report said Israel has killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon since the all-out regional war broke out earlier this year, while the AP said Lebanon and Israel have held rare direct talks mediated by Washington.
The AP said Trump announced that direct U.S. flights to Lebanon could potentially resume, and later said he was directing his Administration to allow all U.S. airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit.
Al Jazeera reported that when asked whether there would be a timeline for Israel’s withdrawal, Trump said, “They’re in the process of doing that,” and said Israel has not pulled back from any area it has occupied since March.
Hezbollah and pilot zones
Trump said he was open to speaking directly with Hezbollah, telling reporters, “I would speak to Hezbollah. I speak to everybody,” while the AP reported that Trump noted, “There’s a Hezbollah problem.”
Aoun, according to Al Jazeera, praised the US-brokered framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel and said, “I would like to thank President Trump, really, and his team,” while the AP said Aoun told Trump, “Your vision is peace.”
The Al Jazeera report said the US State Department announced the establishment of the first “pilot zone” under a Lebanon-Israel framework, but said the three towns announced in the first pilot zone were not under Israeli control so Israel did not withdraw from them.
The AP described confusion over pilot zone implementation, saying operations in three villages of one pilot zone had begun and that two of them — Froun and Srifa — were not under Israeli military control to begin with.
France 24 reported that Aoun warned the south could see a return of the chaos of the 1970s without Washington’s backing, quoting him: “All we're asking is, keep supporting the LAF.”
What’s at stake next
Lebanon’s leadership is pressing for Israeli troop withdrawal and for the Lebanese army to receive support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah militants had held sway, with the AP saying Lebanon hopes the Washington talks will result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon.
The Al Jazeera report said the framework agreement conditions Israeli withdrawal on disarming Hezbollah, and it quoted Hezbollah-linked dynamics in which Aoun did not mention Israeli abuses next to Trump while he praised the framework.
The AP said the June 26 agreement is being tested through small “pilot zones,” and it reported that the Lebanese army said it began deploying troops in Zawtar al-Gharbieh while an Israeli military official said Israeli forces had not been in Zawtar al-Gharbiheh “for quite a time.”
Boursorama reported that Aoun told Trump that a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon was essential to consolidate stability and allow the Lebanese state to strengthen its authority, while the Lebanese presidency said the leaders discussed American aid for reconstruction and support for the Lebanese armed forces.
Euronews said the US said operations had begun in three villages under a pilot plan aimed at facilitating the deployment of the Lebanese army as Israeli forces prepare to redeploy, and it quoted Rubio warning that Lebanon will “never be fully at peace” as long as the Hezbollah issue is not resolved.
