President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he had directed his administration to permit US airlines to resume direct flights to Lebanon, reversing a ban in place since the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847. The decision, disclosed in a Truth Social post following a White House meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, was the most concrete outcome of the first visit by a Lebanese head of state to Washington since 2009. Trump described Lebanon as “a very badly treated place” and pledged to “help it a lot,” while Aoun thanked him for mediating a trilateral framework agreement between Israel, Lebanon and the United States.

Behind the symbolism, the talks centred on a Lebanese plan to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and extend state authority over all Lebanese territory. According to a US source briefed on the meeting, Aoun presented a written roadmap that stipulates placing all weapons under state control and outlines the Lebanese Armed Forces’ needs for funding, equipment and logistical support. The document, now under review by US agencies, makes a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon a precondition for disarming Hezbollah. Trump told reporters he would speak with Hezbollah if Aoun requested it, adding that Israeli forces were “in the process of redeploying” from the south. Viewed from Beirut, the visit was an attempt to secure Washington’s leverage over Israel and to demonstrate that the Lebanese state can assume security responsibilities long dominated by the militia.

The meeting coincided with the first practical test of the 26 June framework agreement, which envisages phased Israeli withdrawals from “pilot zones” and the eventual establishment of peaceful relations. The Lebanese army began deploying to the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiya on Tuesday, but the move was marred by an incident in which Israeli troops fired warning shots near Lebanese soldiers. The Israeli military said the soldiers had entered an area outside the designated zone; the Lebanese army insisted its forces were within the pilot area and called for disputes to be resolved through coordination channels. The episode underscored the fragility of an arrangement that Hezbollah has publicly rejected, with the group’s Al-Manar outlet casting doubt on the feasibility of the meeting and insisting that the constitution grants the president exclusive authority over ending hostilities.

The resumption of direct flights ends a four-decade suspension originally imposed after Hezbollah members hijacked a TWA aircraft at Beirut airport. The move was framed by the White House as both a confidence-building measure and a signal of support for Aoun’s government, which came to power after Israel’s 2024 offensive and the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria weakened Hezbollah’s position. Trump also suggested that Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, could play a role in addressing Hezbollah’s arsenal. With the US administration reviewing Aoun’s disarmament proposal and Israeli elections due in October, the implementation of the framework agreement remains contingent on the Lebanese army’s ability to assert control in the south and on Hezbollah’s willingness to cede its military autonomy. The next steps are expected to include further pilot-zone handovers and continued US-mediated talks.