Lebanese President Joseph Aoun arrived in Washington on Saturday and is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday. Aoun will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
A Lebanese official told Reuters that Aoun would present Trump with a written proposal for dismantling Hezbollah's vast weapons arsenal. According to the official, Aoun believes Trump is the only person with sufficient leverage over Israel to secure the withdrawal of its forces from southern Lebanon.
Diplomatic sources told Lebanon's Al Jadeed television channel that Aoun's visit to Washington would not only test prospects for an Israeli withdrawal, but would also clarify what Lebanon would be required to do in the next stage.
The sources warned that there were currently no signs that the sides' positions were drawing closer, as Israel has shown no willingness to withdraw from sites it considers strategically important and has linked any progress on the ground to security guarantees and the completion of the disarmament process.
Meanwhile, Sky News Arabia reported that Italy had proposed working with the US on pilot withdrawal zones in southern Lebanon. The mechanism would be intended to ensure that areas from which the Israel Defense Forces withdraw are free of weapons belonging to Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations.
A diplomatic source said Lebanon had agreed to the participation of any European country in the verification mechanism. "The deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces in the village of Froun and the operational measures that follow will be based on a document presented by the Lebanese military," the source added.
