Lebanese President Joseph Aoun left Beirut on Saturday for Washington, where he is expected to meet Donald Trump, his office said, after the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks wrapped up in Italy.

It will be the first trip to Washington by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009.

Aoun will hold discussions “with several American officials on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire,” particularly in the south, as well as on “the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies,” the presidency said.

Israel and Lebanon — which do not have formal diplomatic relations — began US-sponsored negotiations in April aimed at reaching a peace deal and permanently ending the Israel-Hezbollah war.

On June 26, they reached a framework agreement in Washington under which the Israeli military is to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army is to deploy, starting with two “pilot zones.”

The agreement is contingent on the disarmament of Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, which has flatly rejected the deal and the Israel-Lebanon negotiations.

Following the latest round of talks this week in Rome, Israel and Lebanon “agreed on the structure and guidelines” for implementing the pilot zones, a US official said.

A Lebanese military source told AFP that the army had begun intensifying patrols in several villages adjacent to areas held by Israeli forces, including Froun in the Bint Jbeil district, in preparation for implementing the pilot zones provision.

Hezbollah held a rally in the coastal city of Tyre on Saturday to reiterate its rejection of the plan.

Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, when it began striking Israel in support of its backer, Tehran.

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground........

© The Times of Israel