SerpApi.Org
July 21 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump said he would help Lebanon "a lot" after meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House on Tuesday.
Aoun wants Trump to push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and honor a U.S.-brokered agreement signed in June.
The neighboring countries signed a cease-fire deal in Washington, D.C., on June 26, without militia group Hezbollah's input. The deal says that Israel will withdraw from Lebanon if Hezbollah is disarmed. But Hezbollah has stated it won't withdraw until Israel is out of the country.
Aoun's goal Tuesday was to secure U.S. military and financial aid to help Lebanon carry out the framework designed to bring peace with Israel.
"It's been a very badly treated place and country, and we're going to have it properly treated and treated with the respect it deserves," Trump told Aoun during a meeting at the end of Aoun's four-day visit to Washington. "We're gonna help it a lot," he said. He did not elaborate.
"I would like to thank President Trump, really, and his team for the historic visit and for the historic achievement that we did together by signing the framework with the ultimate objective of ending the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel forever," Aoun said.
Aoun said he told Trump that Lebanon needs "political support and support for the [Lebanese Armed Forces]."
He said the Lebanese military is the most trusted institution in the country.
"We need to support the LAF. The LAF [keeps] the country safe and stable. Without the LAF, everything will collapse. We don't want that. I think President Trump doesn't want that," Aoun said. The Lebanese military collapsed in 1975, leading to the Lebanese Civil War which lasted until 1990.
"We don't want to see that [happen] again. All we're asking is keep supporting the LAF. They know that the LAF is doing a great job performing its duty to the fullest. I fully trust the LAF. I fully trust the leadership of the LAF," Aoun said.
When asked by a reporter what deliverables he will provide Aoun, Trump said: "You'll find out."
A reporter asked Trump if he would speak to Hezbollah, and he responded that he would.
"I would speak to Hezbollah. I speak to everybody," he said. "I would say this: If the president wanted me to speak to Hezbollah -- you know, he's lived with Hezbollah for a long time -- and if the president wanted me to speak to Hezbollah, I would."
On Monday, the U.S. State Department announced that Israel is pulling out of several villages in Lebanon. A U.S. official told Axios that the Lebanese military is responsible for the areas that Israel will leave behind, calling them "pilot zones." The military will clear the areas of Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure, according to the agreement.
The United States is still negotiating with the two warring countries over who will verify that the military cleared the areas, Israeli officials told Axios. A senior Israeli official said the Israeli military began its withdrawal Tuesday morning.
The official called the withdrawal "a test for the Lebanese Armed Forces' sovereignty in the three pilot villages."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Aoun on Sunday and told reporters that the best way to defeat Hezbollah is to boost the Lebanese government and the military.
"This is not just about military stuff. This is about how can we attract more U.S. and international investment into Lebanon," Axios reported Rubio said. "And I think President Aoun will be able to return to Lebanon and say to the people of Lebanon that he is the one that's getting positive results for the people ... not Hezbollah, not Iran."
Trump rarely goes against Netanyahu's wishes but showed frustration in early June with his policies in Lebanon.
It's the first time a Lebanese president has visited the White House since 2009.
