Mr. Rubio “praised the courage of the Lebanese government, led by President Aoun, for their determined efforts to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah, dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace,” the State Department reported.
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This visit by the Lebanese leader was held in Italy following the latest round of Lebanon-Israel negotiations.
This is the first visit of a Lebanese head of state to Washington since 2009, when Barack Obama received Michel Sleiman.
The Lebanese president’s office announced that J. Aoun will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
According to the office, the president plans talks “on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire,” as well as on “Israel’s withdrawal from its occupied Lebanese territories.”
Israel and Lebanon, which do not maintain official diplomatic relations, began U.S.-backed negotiations in April aimed at reaching a peace agreement and permanently ending the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
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On June 26 in Washington, they reached a basic agreement under which the Israeli army must withdraw from southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese army must be deployed, starting with two pilot zones.
The agreement depends on the disarmament of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which has strongly rejected both this agreement and the Israel-Lebanon negotiations based on it.
After the latest round of talks ended in Rome last week, Israel and Lebanon “agreed on the implementation structure and guidelines for the pilot zones,” a U.S. official said.
Hezbollah involved Lebanon in the Middle East war on March 2 by striking Israel in support of its backer Iran.
Israel responded with air strikes and a ground invasion, and despite the ceasefire, continues isolated attacks and occupies territory in the south it calls a “security zone.”
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