Lebanese President Aoun Departs Beirut for Washington Meeting with Trump

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun left Beirut on Saturday for Washington at the invitation of President Trump. He is set to meet the U.S. leader and other senior officials the week of July 20 in an effort to strengthen the ceasefire, secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and extend Lebanese state authority over all territory.

This marks the first visit to Washington by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman met President Barack Obama in 2009.

U.S. officials said Lebanese and Israeli negotiators concluded another round of talks in Rome and agreed on next steps for pilot zones in southern Lebanon. Under the June 2026 framework agreement, Israeli troops would begin withdrawing from those zones while the Lebanese army assumes security duties.

The agreement sets no deadline for full withdrawal and ties further steps to the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups. Israeli forces continue to hold a roughly 10 km security zone along the border.

Lebanese state media reported new Israeli strikes on two towns in the Tyre and Nabatieh regions on Saturday. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hezbollah cell near Tebnin after detecting a drone. The war escalated into full-scale conflict in March 2025. Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported that more than 4,000 Lebanese have been killed and more than one million displaced since then.

Israeli officials have said their troops will stay in the security zone for as long as Hezbollah remains armed. Hezbollah has rejected both the negotiations and the framework agreement, refusing calls to disarm.