At meeting in DC, Rubio lauds Lebanon president’s ongoing push to disarm Hezbollah

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, praising Aoun's efforts to disarm Hezbollah. This marks the first visit by a Lebanese head of state to the US capital since 2009. According to a US State Department readout, Rubio "commended the courage of the government of Lebanon, under President Aoun’s leadership, for their determined effort to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace."

• The meeting occurred amidst ongoing US-sponsored negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, which began in April, aimed at a peace deal and ending the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
• A framework agreement was reached on June 26, stipulating an Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army in two "pilot zones," contingent on Hezbollah's disarmament.
• Hezbollah has rejected both the agreement and the negotiations.
• Discussions last week in Rome, described as "positive," focused on verifying the absence of Hezbollah weapons and fighters in the pilot zones, with a third party, possibly UN forces, to conduct verification.