Lebanese President Joseph Aoun departed Beirut for Washington on Saturday, headed for his first face-to-face meeting with President Trump at the White House on July 21, with talks expected to focus on Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the future of the fragile ceasefire.
Aoun’s visit comes after Lebanon and Israel signed a US-brokered framework agreement last month aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The deal was the result of several rounds of direct talks in Washington, but critics say it was accepted under U.S. pressure as Israeli troops continued expanding their occupation of southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese president said he expected the meeting to “bring positive outcomes for Lebanon,” claiming it reflected “an unprecedented level of US interest in Lebanon and US support for efforts to find a lasting solution to the cycle of wars and Israeli attacks on our country.”
Under the framework deal, “pilot zones” would be established in southern Lebanon where the Lebanese army would deploy, assert full control, and disarm Hezbollah. Israeli forces would withdraw from those areas in parallel. But the agreement has raised concerns among diplomats and Lebanese officials because of its uncertain legal standing and the absence of a fixed timetable for Israeli withdrawal.
“You accept nothing less than the end of the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon,” Aoun said ahead of his departure.
The talks are complicated by deep mistrust. Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, called the negotiations a “train wreck” and questioned whether Hezbollah would actually be disarmed. “We agreed to a ceasefire on the condition that Hezbollah withdraws northward. Is that agreement still binding?” he asked at the last round of talks.
The ceasefire, signed in late June after months of fighting, remains shaky. Hezbollah has accused Israel of violations, including opening fire on civilians near Nabatiya, while Israel insists the group must be removed from the border area before any full withdrawal.
After Washington, Lebanon and Israel are expected to hold another round of talks in Rome, though Lebanese officials say they were not given advance notice of the venue change.
Aoun’s visit is being watched closely in Beirut, where the government is walking a narrow line between Hezbollah’s demands for a full Israeli withdrawal and Washington’s insistence that the Lebanese state prove it can control its own territory. The meeting will test whether Trump is willing to put pressure on Israel to follow through on its withdrawal commitments, or whether the framework deal is just a diplomatic cover for an indefinite occupation.