Lebanon’s President Met With Trump To Ask The US To Push Israel To Leave South Lebanon And Hezbollah To Disarm
Lebanon wants to end its hostility with Israel "forever" and asked for US support to keep building up the Lebanese army.
For the first time in over a decade, Lebanon's president Joseph Aoun met with US president Donald Trump at the White House, asking for the US’ backing to get Israel out of southern Lebanon and to disarm Hezbollah.
Since March 2, Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and militant group that has de facto control over south Lebanon and is funded by Iran, have been at war after Hezbollah retaliated for Israel and the US launching an unprovoked war on Iran and killing its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Since taking office, Aoun has pushed a plan to make the Lebanese army, not Hezbollah, the only armed force in the country.
On June 26, Lebanon, Israel and the US signed a framework agreement in Washington, D.C., after agreeing to a ceasefire earlier in June.
Under the agreement, Hezbollah is set to halt its attacks on Israel and withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River, a river that runs about 29 kilometres (18 miles) north of the Israeli border, Israel is set to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and the US is set to help set up pilot zones controlled by the Lebanese army throughout southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah, which was not at the table for the deal, rejected it immediately, calling it a surrender, while people in Lebanon have argued that giving up Hezbollah’s weapons without a clear defensive strategy would leave southern Lebanon exposed and make it easier for Israel to invade in the future.
Aoun arrived in Washington on July 18 for a four-day visit, his first as president and the first visit to the White House by a Lebanese leader since 2009 and met with Trump in the White House on Tuesday July 21.
Trump told reporters he felt "very good about Lebanon."
Aoun said Lebanon wants to end its hostility with Israel "forever" and asked for US support to keep building up the Lebanese army, warning that without it, "everything will collapse," a reference to the army's collapse in 1975, which led to Lebanon's civil war.
Trump said he would be open to speaking directly with Hezbollah if Lebanon asked him to.
Trump also said he was directing his administration to let US airlines fly directly to Lebanon again, something that has not been possible for years due to security concerns.
The meeting came a day after Israel's military began its first troop withdrawal under the June 26 deal, pulling out of the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, while the US started setting up the first of these so-called pilot zones.
Sofia Hou
Nyx Joy
Cherry Mohamed
