Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is received at the White House by Donald Trump on Tuesday, when his army began a test deployment in an area in the south whose surroundings the Israeli army controlled.
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This first meeting between the two heads of state comes as Washington is putting pressure on Beirut to disarm the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, a condition for Israel to withdraw from the south of the country.
On Tuesday, the Lebanese army deployed in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, under an agreement with Israel sponsored by Washington, which provides for the establishment of “pilot zones”.
This deployment constitutes a “real test”, first as to “the desire of the Israeli army to withdraw” from the areas it actually occupies, but also “from the position of Hezbollah” which rejects the agreement, comments analyst Hassan Jouni for AFP.
The Lebanese president indicated that he intended to ask his American counterpart to put pressure on Israel to withdraw from the south of which it occupies a large part.
However, Israel refuses any withdrawal until the Shiite movement is disarmed, a measure also demanded by Washington.
“As long as this problem persists, Lebanon will never experience true peace,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with President Aoun on Sunday.
At the same time, he “praised the courage of the Lebanese government (…) for its determined efforts to restore Lebanese sovereignty, to disarm Hezbollah and to dismantle its terrorist infrastructure.”
“Concerns”
Joseph Aoun’s visit is the first by a Lebanese president to Washington since 2009.
“This meeting demonstrates continued US interest in Lebanon,” but “raises many concerns about the additional demands that could be made to Lebanon,” notes Maha Yehya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
Joseph Aoun, former commander-in-chief of the army, was elected in January 2025 with the support of the West, marking a shift in Lebanese politics.
Since coming to power, he has pledged to disarm the powerful Hezbollah.
But the pro-Iranian group refuses and dragged the country into a new war with Israel in early March, in solidarity with Iran.
More than 4,300 people have since been killed in massive strikes by the Israeli army, which also carried out a ground offensive and occupies a large part of southern Lebanon.
Violence has decreased in intensity since Lebanon and Israel began negotiations in April in an attempt to dissociate the Lebanese issue from the regional war.
At the same time, Tehran had demanded an end to hostilities in Lebanon to conclude a memorandum of understanding with Washington on June 17, which has since been shattered with the resumption of hostilities between Iran and the United States.
“Counterparty”
The Lebanese president will also ask his American counterpart for substantial aid for the Lebanese army.
In return, Donald Trump “will undoubtedly want to obtain new proof of the seriousness of Joseph Aoun’s commitments” to disarm Hezbollah, dismiss army officers suspected of collusion with the movement, and achieve peace with Israel, lists Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute.
According to him, the meeting will also give “Aoun the opportunity to put an end to a dangerous idea that seems to have seduced Donald Trump: authorizing Syria to deploy troops in Lebanon in order, allegedly, to crush Hezbollah.”
Donald Trump had made repeated calls in this direction, criticizing the strategy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Lebanon. But Syrian Islamist President Ahmad al-Chareh has assured that he has no intention of intervening in Lebanon and reopening the wounds of the past.
