Aoun’s Washington visit centers on a U.S.-Lebanon-Israel framework that Beirut says could pair Lebanese army control in southern pilot zones with eventual Israeli pullbacks, though the deal faces sharp domestic opposition.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun is in Washington seeking U.S. backing to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and advance efforts to disarm Hezbollah under a U.S.-Lebanon-Israel framework that has now entered a contentious pilot-zone phase. He met Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday and is due to hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, with relations between Lebanon and Israel and Beirut’s push to place arms under state control at the center of the visit. Aoun arrived in the Washington area on Saturday and used his meeting with Rubio to press for alignment between Lebanese and U.S. positions through what the Lebanese presidency described as an initial Israeli withdrawal from a first pilot zone. Rubio said backing Lebanon’s government was the best way to defeat Hezbollah, adding that Aoun represented the country’s legitimate government. The framework envisions pilot zones in south Lebanon where the Lebanese Armed Forces would become the sole military force as Israel withdraws and residents return. But the first pilot zone announced by the U.S. State Department on Monday is in three towns that Israel did not occupy during the war and would not trigger any Israeli withdrawal, undercutting the immediate benefit for Lebanon. The arrangement is highly controversial inside Lebanon. Critics say it makes Israeli withdrawal contingent on conditions set by Israel and Washington, weakens Lebanese sovereignty and legitimizes occupation. Rights advocates have also raised concerns over language committing Lebanon and Israel to refrain from hostile action in international political or legal forums, which they say could limit accountability efforts over alleged Israeli abuses. The visit comes amid renewed U.S.-Iran fighting that risks reopening the Hezbollah-Israel front in Lebanon. Trump has voiced support for Lebanon and has said Israel should withdraw from the country, but it remains unclear whether he will press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hard enough to end Israel’s presence in the south.