President Donald Trump on Tuesday said US airlines would be allowed to resume direct flights to Lebanon, reversing a four-decade ban.
His announcement followed a meeting at the White House with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, during which Mr Trump said Lebanon had been treated "very badly".
On Truth Social, he said he had issued directions "to allow all US airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit this beautiful land". He said he hoped that other countries would do the same.
Direct US-Lebanon flights were banned under president Ronald Reagan's administration in 1985 after Hezbollah hijacked two Trans World Airlines planes in Beirut.
Mr Trump did not say when the flights would begin. The US is home to a significant Lebanese diaspora, with estimates putting the number between 500,000 and more than a million.
Concrete plans
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Trump told reporters the US has "concrete plans" to help the Lebanese military as it assumes control of areas left by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
He said the Lebanese Armed Forces, the largest international backer of which is the US, was becoming increasingly capable of operating against Hezbollah.
"We have some very concrete plans already in store for that," Mr Trump said, when asked how America 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 has given more than $3 billion in military assistance to the LAF since 2006.
Mr Trump also said Lebanon had been "very badly treated" and pledged that the country would be "treated with the respect that it deserves".
The meeting came after two days of US-mediated talks in Rome ended without a timeline for implementing a fragile framework agreement with Israel.
Mr Aoun flattered the US leader, saying Mr Trump was "such a great president".
Mr Trump smiled and responded: "He knows how to get to me. He can have anything."
On the first visit to the White House by a Lebanese president since 2009, Mr Aoun thanked Mr Trump for the "historic achievement" of signing the June 26 agreement between Lebanon and Iran.
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 Hezbollah, which was not involved in the US-sponsored agreement.
Mr Trump said Israeli forces were in the process of moving out.
Mr Aoun also wants the US to provide funds for greater support of the LAF, and a reconstruction and relief package after large areas of southern Lebanon were devastated by Israeli strikes.
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," Mr Aoun said.
At least 4,250 people have been killed in Lebanon since fighting escalated in March, according to the government, while about a million have been displaced.
Massad Boulos, Mr Trump's senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, said the meeting was "very productive".
"It's all about implementation, it's going to take time," Mr Boulos told reporters at the White House.
"This is not easy. Nobody believes for a second that this is going to be an easy task in any way."
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 disarming under the current terms.
Mr Trump regards Mr Aoun as a vital partner in the disarmament of Hezbollah, which is 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 will probably greatly affect 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 Israel had withdrawn.
Mr Aoun is facing domestic pressure over the agreement, with opponents saying 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."
