Aoun: My meeting with Trump was fruitful, time has come to end war
President Joseph Aoun called Friday on the European Union to support the implementation of a framework agreement reached in late June with Israel.
Aoun said Lebanon is committed to the path of reforms, despite being under Israeli attacks since October 2023, when Hezbollah joined the Gaza war in support of Hamas and the Palestinian people.
In November 2024, a ceasefire was reached but Israel kept up its attacks, especially on south Lebanon.
In March, Hezbollah fired at Israel after the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and said it's also in retaliation for 15 months of Israeli violations.
Aoun, who has staunchly criticized Hezbollah's decision to pull Lebanon into war, met Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. Hezbollah branded the visit a failure and said that it showed the government’s submission to a foreign power.
"My meeting with President Trump was fruitful, and the time has come to bring a definitive end to the war," Aoun said.
Earlier on Friday, Aoun met with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and discussed with him the latest developments, his Washington visit, and Salam's recent visit to south Lebanon.
24 July 2026, 16:32
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Well said Mr. President. Now get down to the details and let us see a Lebanon - Israel peace treaty in the not too distant future.
24 July 2026, 16:56
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"The war" President Aoun speaks of as Lebanon putting an end to is the war in which Hezbollah is a bit player, a side show, a tool used by others ... it isn't the latest chapter in which Iran suckered Hezbollah into over-committing and again over-consuming Lebanon's scarce resources ... Aoun intends to put a final end to the Arab war of 1948 which Israel did not lose ... Hezbollah's surrender, capitulation, and elimination is merely a footnote in the history of Israel becoming an independent country ... the Arabs lost their war against that United Nations partitioning, just as the Ottomans lost the Levant in World War I.
Aoun is right: it is past time to pull-up our big boy pants and understand the lessons of our history, so that we can make progress on the most important of matters ... the well-being of our people.
