Trump Allows US-Lebanon Flights Amid Conflict

President Donald Trump announced he would allow direct flights between the United States and Lebanon after a halt of over four decades. This decision comes more than 40 years after the US suspended the route following the hijacking of TWA flight 847 in 1985. "I am hereby directing my Administration to allow all U.S. airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit this beautiful land," Trump said in a social media post after meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

During their meeting, Trump pledged substantial support for Lebanon amidst ongoing conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. "It’s been a very badly treated place and country and we’re going to have it properly treated and treated with the respect it deserves," Trump told Aoun in the White House. The US has pushed for peace in Lebanon but has been distracted by escalating tensions with Iran, which has destabilized much of the Middle East.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is seeking US backing to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. According to multiple reports, Aoun plans to present Trump with a written proposal outlining how Hezbollah’s arsenal could be dismantled while securing Israel’s withdrawal under the US-brokered agreement signed on June 26. The agreement aims for the disarmament of Hezbollah and phased Israeli troop withdrawals.

The framework agreement also lays out steps toward an eventual peace agreement between Lebanon and Israel, which have never had formal diplomatic ties and have been nominally in a state of war for nearly 80 years. However, implementation on the ground has stalled ahead of recent talks in Rome. Lebanese officials previously said they would demand the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from designated "pilot zones" before any further discussions.

The latest round of fighting began when Hezbollah fired missiles across the border on March 2, two days after the US and Israel attacked Iran. The conflict has resulted in over 4,000 Lebanese deaths and displaced more than a million people. Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to occupy several areas in southern Lebanon from where they launch strikes against Hezbollah.

Residents began entering the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Friday, some inspecting damaged homes and searching for belongings after Israeli troops withdrew and the Lebanese army deployed under a U.S.-brokered agreement. The return remains tentative as more than half the town has been destroyed and many of the homes still standing are badly damaged.

Despite ongoing talks between Lebanon and Israel, Israel carried out blasts across south Lebanon this week. According to Al Jazeera, Israeli forces attacked the southern Lebanese town of al-Mansouri and carried out blasts in the nearby village of Majdal Zoun despite a U.S.-brokered framework aimed at ending the fighting.

Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold their next round of U.S.-brokered talks on August 4 in Italy. The two countries have held more than three months of face-to-face talks, billed as a way to put a permanent end to hostilities since a new war erupted on March 2 between Israel and Hezbollah.

Trump has suggested that Syria could intervene in Lebanon to "do something with Hezbollah." However, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed the prospect of an intervention, stating that Syria should focus on its own internal challenges. Analysts believe a Syrian intervention in Lebanon could incite regional sectarian tensions and disrupt Syria’s post-war state-building project.