BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 18, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on 
Saturday left Beirut for Washington, where he is expected to meet Donald 
Trump, the Lebanese presidency said, after talks between Lebanon and Israel 
wrapped up in Italy.

It will be the first trip to Washington by a Lebanese head of state since 
Michel Sleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009.

Aoun will hold discussions "with several American officials on the situation 
in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire", particularly in Lebanon's 
south, as well as on "the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it 
occupies", the presidency said.

Israel and Lebanon began US-sponsored negotiations in April aimed at reaching 
a peace deal and permanently ending the Israel-Hezbollah war.

On June 26, they reached a framework agreement in Washington under which the 
Israeli military is to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army 
is to deploy, starting with two "pilot zones".

The agreement is contingent on the disarmament of Iran-backed militant group 
Hezbollah, which has flatly rejected the deal and the Israel-Lebanon 
negotiations.

Following the latest round of talks this week in Rome, Israel and Lebanon 
"agreed on the structure and guidelines" to implement the pilot zones, a US 
official said.

A Lebanese military source meanwhile told AFP that the Lebanese army has 
begun intensifying patrols in several villages adjacent to areas occupied by 
Israeli forces, including Froun in the Bint Jbeil district, in preparation 
for implementing the pilot zones provision.

Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, when it began 
striking Israel in support of its backer Tehran.

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion, and despite a 
ceasefire continues sporadic attacks and holds territory in south Lebanon in 
what it describes as a "security zone".

On Saturday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported fresh 
airstrikes against two towns located on the edge of the so-called security 
zone, in the Tyre and Nabatieh regions.

The US embassy meanwhile warned Americans not to travel to Lebanon, citing 
"high tensions in the Middle East".