Lebanese president to meet Trump as 'pilot zones' experiment begins

Lebanese president to meet Trump as 'pilot zones' experiment begins Submitted by Yasmine El-Sabawi on Mon, 07/20/2026 - 20:17 The move is the first practical test for the US-negotiated military coordination group for Lebanon Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the US State Department in Washington, DC, on 19 July 2026 (Lebanese president's office handout) Off Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is about to break a nearly two-decade streak in which no Lebanese head of state has been inside the White House. The former head of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is set to meet US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, nearly a month after a trilateral framework was signed by the US, Israel, and Lebanon towards ending a war that has cost more than 4,000 Lebanese lives. The framework's first phase went into effect Monday, with the Trump administration announcing that "pilot zone operations began in the villages of Froun, Srifa, and Zawtar Al-Gharbiya...