US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington, DC, on Sunday to discuss a recent agreement between the US, Israel and Lebanon.
During the meeting, Rubio reaffirmed the US commitment to helping implement the trilateral framework reached in Washington last month, in which Israel agreed to withdraw its forces from two areas in southern Lebanon, paving the way for further negotiations.
“The Secretary commended the courage of the Government of Lebanon, under President Aoun’s leadership, for their determined effort to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hizballah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
A Lebanese statement about the meeting said Aoun also stressed the need to implement the framework, “beginning with securing the first Israeli withdrawal from the first model area.” The agreement designated “pilot zones” where Israeli forces can begin transitioning control of territory to the Lebanese military.
Aoun’s office said in a previous statement that a Lebanese-US summit will be held at the White House this week.
Some background: Before renewed fighting broke out between the US and Iran, a memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran had aimed to end the fighting in Lebanon as part of a wider ceasefire plan.
Despite that initial agreement — and US-brokered ceasefires between the Israeli and Lebanese governments — fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah has continued.
This post has been updated with a statement from Lebanon.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq, Oren Liebermann, Sean Lyngaas and Charbel Mallo contributed to this report.
