President Donald Trump met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House on Tuesday. This meeting represents the first time a Lebanese head of state has visited the White House since 2009. The discussion coincided with the start of an Israeli military withdrawal from specific villages in southern Lebanon, following a U.S.-brokered agreement reached last week in Rome.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) began vacating three villages on Tuesday morning as part of a "pilot zone" initiative. Under the terms of the agreement, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will assume security responsibilities in these areas, tasked with removing Hezbollah infrastructure and preventing further military activity by the group. A U.S. official stated that the success of these pilot zones is intended to build confidence for a broader withdrawal process.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with President Aoun on Sunday, stated that the administration's goal is to strengthen the Lebanese government's sovereignty. Rubio emphasized that U.S. support includes both military assistance for the LAF and efforts to attract international investment to Lebanon. Negotiations are currently ongoing regarding which entities will verify that the pilot zones have been successfully cleared of militia activity.
President Aoun arrived in Washington seeking continued military aid and U.S. diplomatic pressure on Israel to maintain the withdrawal schedule following the March ground invasion. While the Trump administration has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to complete the redeployment, officials noted that a final peace agreement is unlikely to be finalized until after the Israeli elections scheduled for October.