Aoun seeks US backing on Israel withdrawal in Washington talks

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Sunday as Beirut seeks U.S. help to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, according to the Lebanese presidency. The visit matters for Lebanon’s effort to secure an Israeli pullback from the south and reassert state authority in areas affected by the conflict.

Aoun told Rubio that Lebanon and the United States should work together to carry out a U.S.-backed agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel on June 26, beginning with an initial Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the Lebanese presidency said in a post on X.

The U.S. State Department said Rubio commended the Lebanese government’s efforts to restore sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah, dismantle what Washington calls the group’s terrorist infrastructure and move toward peace.

Aoun and First Lady Naima Aoun arrived at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday for the official visit, according to the Lebanese presidency. Aoun is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday and hold discussions with U.S. senators and other administration officials, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported.

Proposal expected for Trump

A Lebanese official told Reuters that Aoun plans to give Trump a written proposal on dismantling Hezbollah’s weapons while obtaining an Israeli withdrawal under the U.S.-brokered framework. Before leaving Beirut, Aoun said he would ask Trump to apply the pressure needed on Israel to implement the deal, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.

The agreement envisions Hezbollah’s disarmament, a phased Israeli troop withdrawal and a path toward more stable relations between Lebanon and Israel, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. The Lebanese official told Reuters that Aoun sees Trump as uniquely able to press Israel to withdraw and support Lebanon’s sovereignty.

The Washington trip is the first by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman met then-President Barack Obama in 2009, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. It follows U.S.-mediated talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Rome earlier this week on how to carry out the June framework.

Hezbollah and Israel remain at odds

The talks have underscored the pressure on Aoun’s government, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Hezbollah has rejected Lebanon’s direct negotiations with Israel and efforts to disarm the group, while Israel has said it will not complete a withdrawal unless Hezbollah is disarmed and demilitarised.

Aoun, 62, is a former commander of Lebanon’s U.S.-backed army who was elected president last year after more than two years without a head of state, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. His election followed Israel’s 2024 offensive, which weakened Hezbollah, and the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of the Iran-backed group.

At his swearing-in, Aoun pledged to restore the state’s monopoly on weapons, making Hezbollah’s disarmament a central goal of his presidency, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Lebanese troops later deployed in parts of southern Lebanon to collect Hezbollah weapons caches under a ceasefire agreement after the 2024 war.

Those efforts became more difficult after fighting resumed in March, when Hezbollah attacked Israel in support of Iran as Israel and the United States were attacking Iran, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. Israel then launched another offensive in Lebanon.

Aoun later criticised Hezbollah for pulling Lebanon into war, telling European Union officials in a virtual meeting in March that the group placed no value on Lebanon’s interests or the lives of its people and was acting for the Iranian government’s calculations. He then called for direct talks with Israel, a shift from Lebanon’s long-standing policy after repeated Israeli invasions since 1978, while stopping short of Trump’s calls for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.