(AFP) – Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was to meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, as Beirut’s military moved into an area of the south under a deal with Israel to disarm Hezbollah. Lebanon is under pressure to prove that it can and will disarm the Iran-backed militant group, which Israel has set as a precondition for ending its occupation in southern Lebanon.
The so-called “pilot zones” where the Lebanese army is deploying under the deal with Israel are primarily located just outside territory Israeli forces invaded after Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the Middle East war in March. The Lebanese army said on Tuesday it had begun deploying to one of three pilot zones, the village of Zawtar al-Garhbiya. Israel’s military said it would be “adjusting its force posture” in one pilot area. Aoun, who has staunchly criticised Hezbollah for forcing Lebanon into the war with rocket fire on Israel, is now hoping Trump will further pressure Israel to withdraw from the whole of the south.
Israel has consistently refused to pull out as long as Hezbollah remains armed—a demand backed by Washington. “As long as that problem exists, Lebanon will never truly get peace,” US State Secretary Marco Rubio said after meeting Aoun on Sunday. Rubio also “commended the courage of the Government of Lebanon… for their determined effort to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure.” Aoun is the first Lebanese president to be invited to Washington since 2009.
Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, said that while the meeting “demonstrates a continued US interest in Lebanon,” it “raises a lot of concern around what more Lebanon may be asked to do.”
Aoun, a former army commander, has vowed to disarm Hezbollah since being elected as president in early 2025 with Western support, marking a major political shift in Lebanon. However, Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected laying down its weapons. The group has fought multiple wars with Israel, with Israeli strikes in this latest conflict killing more than 4,300 people in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese authorities.
The violence has significantly decreased since the signing of a framework agreement between the US and Iran last month and the Lebanon-Israel deal. Under the agreement, the Israeli military is to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army is to deploy, starting with several “pilot zones”. Those are intended to prove that the Lebanese army can disarm Hezbollah and retain security control. The militant group has flatly rejected both the deal and the Israel-Lebanon negotiations that underpin it.
Yahya believes the agreement is “deeply disadvantageous” to Lebanon. Iran, which insisted on including Lebanon in its April ceasefire with Washington, has returned to war with the US with renewed attacks since July 7. Aoun is also expected to ask for more aid for the Lebanese army. In exchange, Trump would “no doubt want to hear additional evidence of Aoun’s seriousness” in disarming Hezbollah, wrote Robert Satloff, executive director at the Washington Institute.
Satloff said Trump would also want guarantees that Aoun would root out army officers believed to be complicit with Hezbollah, and eventually reach a peace deal with Israel.
© 2024 AFP
