The Lebanese and US presidents are expected to discuss the ceasefire, southern Lebanon, and Israel’s withdrawal.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will visit the White House to meet his United States counterpart, Donald Trump, as US-led efforts to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah enter a new phase.
Aoun, who is travelling at Trump’s invitation, left for Washington on Saturday.
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He is expected to meet the US president and other senior officials next week to discuss ways to strengthen the ceasefire, secure Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon and “restore security and stability” across the country, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency.
The talks will also focus on extending the Lebanese state’s authority across all of its territory.
It will be the first visit to Washington by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman met then-President Barack Obama in 2009.
The visit comes just days after Lebanese and Israeli officials concluded another round of US-mediated talks in Rome. US officials said the two sides had agreed on the next steps for creating “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops would begin withdrawing, and the Lebanese army would take over security.
The pilot zones are part of a framework agreement reached in June that is meant to gradually end Israel’s military presence in southern Lebanon. But the agreement sets no deadline for Israeli forces to leave. Instead, withdrawals are tied to Hezbollah and other armed groups disarming, a condition Hezbollah has rejected.
Israeli attacks continue
Even as negotiations continue, Israeli forces have remained inside what they call a 10km (six-mile) “security zone” along the border and have continued carrying out air strikes.
Lebanese state media reported new Israeli attacks on two towns on the edge of the zone in the Tyre and Nabatieh regions on Saturday.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a Hezbollah cell near Tebnit in southern Lebanon after soldiers identified a Hezbollah drone in the area, adding that the activity violated ceasefire understandings. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.
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. The group says only continued pressure from its ally Iran can bring about an end to the war and Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
The latest war grew out of months of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that followed the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in October 2023. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war in March after the US and Israel attacked Iran.
Although a ceasefire is now in place, Israeli forces have remained inside parts of southern Lebanon and continue to launch periodic strikes as negotiations over a longer-term settlement continue.
More than 4,000 Lebanese have been killed and more than a million displaced by Israel’s war on Lebanon since March, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
