Trump pledges to help ‘mistreated’ Lebanon in meeting with president
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with United States President Trump at the White House, where the US leader pledged to help the country.
The meeting comes at a crucial moment for Lebanon as Israeli troops occupy large parts of the country’s south and thousands of Lebanese people remain displaced after Israeli strikes.
Trump acknowledged a potential “prejudice” towards Lebanon because he has Lebanese friends, as he praised the country.
After the meeting, Trump said he would direct his government to allow all domestic airline carriers to fly directly to Beirut, for the first time in more than 40 years.
All US flights were suspended in 1985 after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 from Athens, Greece, en route to Rome, Italy. The flight was forced to land in Beirut. During the 17-day ordeal, a US Navy diver was killed.
Asked whether there was a timeline on Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon, Trump said Israeli forces were being “deployed elsewhere”.
On Wednesday, displaced residents on the outskirts of Zawtar al-Gharbiye in southern Lebanon stood by for approval to return as Lebanese troops moved into the town.
Lebanese Army troops began deploying in the southern town earlier on Tuesday after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, a senior Lebanese security official said, in line with a US-brokered plan.
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