FULL: President of Lebanon meets with Trump to seek help on Israel withdrawal

Lebanon's president met with President Donald Trump on Tuesday to wrap up a four-day visit to Washington, in a bid for long-term calm after months of war at home between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Joseph Aoun's first-ever meeting with his U.S. counterpart comes as Lebanon and Israel hold rare direct talks mediated by Washington. This is the first White House visit by a Lebanese president since 2009. Trump shook hands with Aoun on the White House driveway and called him “highly respected.” Neither answered reporters' shouted questions about Lebanon and Israel, with Trump instead pointing inside before leading Aoun that way. Moments later, Trump invited reporters into the pair's Oval Office meeting that had originally be listed as closed to the press. Lebanon hopes the talks will result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon that they currently occupy, and the Lebanese military receiving support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah militants had held sway. Lebanon and Israel announced a “framework agreement” on June 26, setting a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw and for the disarmament of Hezbollah, which for decades had a strong presence in southern Lebanon. It also lays out steps toward an eventual peace agreement between the countries, which have never held formal diplomatic ties and have been nominally in a state of war for nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment. READ MORE: https://13wham.com/news/nation-world/... _______________ Stay up to date with our social media: 13 WHAM on Facebook:   / 13wham   13 WHAM on Twitter:   / 13wham   13WHAM on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/13whamtv/?h... 13WHAM on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@13wham?lang=en 13 WHAM Daily Local News Digest:    • 13WHAM Local News Digest   For more information, visit https://13wham.com/ Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: (585) 334-8700 WHAM is a NY based station and a ABC Television affiliate owned and operated by Deerfield Media, Inc and receives certain services from an affiliation of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. #13WHAM #News #Rochester #NewYork