Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday to discuss securing a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and obtaining financial assistance for post-conflict reconstruction. The high-level meeting follows two days of US-mediated talks in Rome that failed to yield a concrete timetable for implementing a proposed framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
President Aoun is seeking US support for a relief package following extensive damage from Israeli strikes, as well as strengthened backing for the Lebanese Armed Forces. The conflict has claimed over 4,250 lives in Lebanon since March and displaced roughly one million people.
However, major hurdles remain. Israeli forces have only pulled back from select “pilot zone” villages, conditioning further withdrawal on Hezbollah’s disarmament. Hezbollah has rejected the framework agreement, while critics in Lebanon argue the deal unfairly front-loads Lebanese security obligations without guaranteeing Israel’s total withdrawal.
