Lebanese President Meets Rubio Over Trilateral Framework

WASHINGTON -  Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Sunday, July 19, at the start of an official visit, with the two officials focusing on the implementation of a trilateral security framework involving the United States, Lebanon, and Israel.

The meeting, held at the State Department, centred on the US-brokered framework agreement signed by Israel and Lebanon on June 26, aimed at ending their conflict. Rubio reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the "successful implementation of the Trilateral Framework" and to supporting Lebanon's "efforts to deliver peace, economic recovery, and a better future for the Lebanese people."

Praise for Lebanon's Sovereignty Push

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Rubio "commended the courage of the Government of Lebanon, under President Aoun's leadership, for their determined effort to reclaim Lebanon's sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace." In a post on social media, Rubio wrote that he had commended Aoun's "courage and his government's work to reclaim their country and advance towards peace."

Aoun, who assumed the Lebanese presidency following a prolonged vacancy in the office, has signalled a willingness to assert state authority and pursue security-sector reforms that previous governments had struggled to advance. By reaffirming US backing for the framework's implementation, Rubio signalled that Washington views Aoun's government as a credible partner in stabilising Lebanon.

Aoun Presses on Israeli Withdrawal

According to a statement released by his office, Aoun emphasised to Rubio the necessity for Lebanon and the United States to remain aligned regarding the implementation of the framework, specifically on securing the first Israeli withdrawal from an initial experimental, or pilot, zone. Following the latest round of talks in Rome the previous week, Israel and Lebanon agreed on the structure and guidelines for implementing the pilot zones, according to the United States.

While in Washington, Aoun's office said he planned talks "on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire," as well as on "the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies." The visit is the first by a Lebanese president to Washington since 2009. Aoun arrived on Saturday for a four-day official visit and is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday.

Background to the Conflict

Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group and political movement, has long maintained an armed presence in Lebanon that successive Lebanese governments and international actors have sought to curtail. Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the wider Middle East war on March 2, when it began striking Israel in support of its backer, Iran. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion, and despite a ceasefire it has continued sporadic attacks and holds territory in the south in what it describes as a "security zone."

Israel and Lebanon, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, began US-sponsored negotiations in April aimed at reaching a peace deal and permanently ending the Israel-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah has rejected Lebanon's direct negotiations with Israel and efforts to strip the group of its arms. The talks come at a delicate moment: Iran had demanded an end to the war in Lebanon as part of its interim deal with Washington signed last month, but that agreement has been shaken over the past week by renewed US-Iranian hostilities in the Gulf.