Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Saturday left Beirut for Washington, where he is expected to meet president Donald Trump at the White House , the Lebanese presidency said
It will be the first trip to Washington by a Lebanese head of state since former President Michel Suleiman met former US President Barack Obama at the White House in 2009.
Aoun will hold discussions “with several American officials on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire”, particularly in Lebanon’s south, as well as on “the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies”, the presidency said.
Israel and Lebanon began US-sponsored negotiations last April with the aim of reaching a peace deal and permanently end the Israel-Hezbollah war.
On June 26, they reached a framework agreement in Washington under which the Israeli military is to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army is to deploy, starting with two “pilot zones”.
The agreement is contingent on the disarmament of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which has flatly rejected the deal and the Israel-Lebanon negotiations.
Following the latest round of talks this week in Rome, Israel and Lebanon “agreed on the structure and guidelines” to implement the pilot zones, a US official said.
A Lebanese military source meanwhile told AFP news agency that the Lebanese army has begun intensifying patrols in several villages adjacent to areas occupied by Israeli forces, including Froun in the Bint Jbeil district, in preparation for implementing the pilot zones provision.
Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, when it began striking Israel in support of its backer Tehran after its Supreme leader was killed .
Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion of south Lebanon and occupied what it describes as a “security zone” to protect its northern border from Hezbollah’s attacks
On Saturday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported fresh airstrikes against two towns located on the edge of the so-called security zone, in the Tyre and Nabatieh regions.
The US embassy meanwhile warned Americans not to travel to Lebanon, citing “high tensions in the Middle East” as Hezbollah continues its verbal attacks of president Aoun and PM Nawaf Salam.
There is concern in Lebanon that Hezbollah may end up pointing its guns against the Lebanese people like it did in May 2008 when it occupied the Sunni stronghold of Western Beirut and tried but failed to occupy the Druze stronghold of Mt Lebanon
According to Lebanese analysts Ali Hussein: ” Like other organizations supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah functions as an armed extension of Iran’s regional strategy , its purpose is to extend Iran’s influence in the region not defending the Lebanese territory . The Lebanese territories occupied by Israel following 3 wars that Hezbollah initiated against Israel in 2006, 2023 and 2026 with aim of expanding Iran’s influence in the region”
“President Aoun is confronting the division that has existed for decades: One country, but two armies; one constitution, but two sources of authority; one government, but an armed organization that reserves the power to overrule it.” Hussein added
“Lebanon cannot remain sovereign in name while Hezbollah controls the decisions of war and peace.” Hussein added
“President Aoun’s oath was to protect Lebanon—not Iran and Hezbollah’s weapons.” Hussein concluded
The majority of the Lebanese people support Aounand PM Salam in their peace effort to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty
