WASHINGTON, JUL 21: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday to present a plan on how to disarm Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
Aoun, who served as the commander of Lebanon’s army before being elected president last year, is the first Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years to visit the White House, where he will meet Trump face-to-face for the first time.
The meeting comes at a crucial moment for Lebanon: Israeli troops are occupying a swathe of the country’s south, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced following Israeli strikes and Hezbollah has firmly rejected the government’s direct talks with Israel – and efforts by the state to strip it of its arms.
Aoun arrived in Washington at the weekend and met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, telling him that Israel should begin withdrawing from southern Lebanon in line with a US-brokered June 26 agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
That deal aims to disarm Hezbollah, see a progressive Israeli troop withdrawal and set the stage for peaceful ties between the two countries.
Hours ahead of Aoun’s meeting with Trump, Lebanese army troops began taking control of territory vacated by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon – the first test of the plan.
A Lebanese official said Aoun believes only Trump possesses the leverage needed to pressure Israel to withdraw its troops and help Lebanon restore its sovereignty. The official said that Aoun, in addition to asking the US president to press Israel to withdraw, would also present Trump with a written proposal on how to decommission Hezbollah’s massive arsenal.
