President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US has "concrete plans" to help the Lebanese military as it assumes control of areas vacated by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
At a White House meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Mr Trump said the Lebanese Armed Forces, whose largest international backer is the US, were becoming increasingly capable of operating against Hezbollah.
"We have some very concrete plans already in store for that," Mr Trump said when asked how the US would help the LAF keep Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters out of villages in southern Lebanon.
He said "others" would also assist, but credited the LAF with "becoming much more self-sufficient."
The US is the LAF's top backer and has given more than $3 billion in military assistance since 2006.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside Mr Aoun, Mr Trump also said Lebanon had been "very badly treated" and pledged that it would be "treated with the respect that it deserves."
Their meeting came after two days of US-mediated talks in Rome ended without a timeline for the implementation of a fragile framework agreement with Israel.
Mr Aoun used the meeting to flatter his US counterpart, saying Mr Trump was "such a great president".
Mr Trump smiled and said, "he knows how to get to me. He can have anything."
In the first visit to the White House by a Lebanese president since 2009, Mr Aoun thanked Mr Trump for what he called the "historic achievement" of signing the June 26 agreement.
Pilot zones
Israeli troops this week withdrew from three villages in southern Lebanon known as pilot zones. A more meaningful withdrawal, however, hinges on the disarmament of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which was not involved in the US-sponsored agreement with Israel.
Mr Trump said Israeli forces were in the process of redeploying.
Mr Aoun also wants the US to donate funds for a reconstruction and relief package after large areas of southern Lebanon were devastated by Israeli strikes, and greater US support for the LAF.
Recounting a previous phone call with Mr Trump, Mr Aoun said that he needed "two things" from the US: "political support and supporting of the LAF, which is the most trusted institution in the country."
He warned that without the LAF, "everything will collapse".
"Like any other any armed forces of the world, the Lebanese armed forces is the backbone of security and stability - we need to support the LAF," he said.
At least 4,250 people have been killed in Lebanon since fighting escalated in March, according to the government, while about a million others have been displaced.
Mr Aoun faces major challenges. Israel has insisted it will not leave Lebanon until it is satisfied that Hezbollah no longer poses a threat, and Hezbollah has rejected the framework agreement outright and opposes any effort to disarm under the current terms.
Mr Trump views the Lebanese President as a vital partner in the disarmament of Hezbollah, a major goal of the US.
"There's a Hezbollah problem, but we've done some things that I think the world will take notice," Mr Trump said.
Experts warn, however, that the standstill in US-Iran ceasefire negotiations is likely to weigh heavily on the efforts in Lebanon.
“Successful disarmament across the globe has consistently been a political process,” said Timothy Kaldas, deputy director at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. “It requires durable ceasefires to succeed.”
The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that Israeli forces opened fire near its troops during operations to take control of villages from which Israeli forces had withdrawn.
Mr Aoun is meanwhile facing domestic pressure over the agreement, with opponents arguing it places heavy obligations on Lebanon while offering few concrete guarantees from Israel. The 14-clause framework refers to an Israeli “redeployment” rather than a “withdrawal”, which critics say implicitly legitimises Israel's military presence in Lebanese territory.
“The framework demands immediate demonstrations of sovereignty from Lebanon while treating Israel's violations of Lebanese sovereignty as a matter for eventual negotiation,” said Sami Halabi, director of policy at the Beirut think tank Badil. “Lebanon's obligations in this sense are front-loaded; they're measurable.”
Another controversial provision limits Lebanon's ability to pursue legal action against Israel over its operations during the conflict.
Mr Trump was asked if he would be talking to Mr Aoun about rescinding a 1955 law criminalising contact with Israel.
"I will," he said, noting that he wanted Lebanon to join the Abraham Accords.
"I think you're going to see a lot of countries joining pretty soon."
