Trump to invite Lebanon’s Aoun and Israel’s Netanyahu for White House talks

US President Donald Trump has said he will invite Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House as part of efforts to advance ongoing diplomatic engagement between Lebanon and Israel.

Trump said the initiative aims to build on recent diplomatic momentum and claimed it would mark the first meaningful Israel–Lebanon dialogue since 1983.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said both sides want peace and expressed optimism that a settlement could be reached soon.

The reference points back to a 1983 agreement between Israel and Lebanon, which included provisions for mutual recognition and Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon. The deal ultimately collapsed amid Lebanon’s civil war and was formally annulled a year later.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam described recent talks between the two countries’ ambassadors in Washington as “historic,” saying the initial focus had been securing a ceasefire.

Salam congratulated the Lebanese people on what he called a diplomatic achievement, while also expressing condolences to families of those killed in the conflict and solidarity with the wounded and displaced.

Source: AP