Lebanon’s Aoun calls on US to keep ‘always standing beside’ his country

In a congratulatory message on US Independence Day, Aoun says he hopes Lebanon can ‘open a new page of hope, peace and stability’.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has called on the United States to stand by Beirut following a landmark agreement between Lebanon and Israel, mediated by Washington.

In a congratulatory message to President Donald Trump marking the US ۲۵۰th Independence Day, Aoun urged Washington to “keep always standing beside Lebanon’s right and just causes, its institutions, army and people”.

He added that he hopes that Lebanon could “turn the page on wars … and open a new page of hope, peace and stability”.

The US Embassy in Lebanon also said in a post on X that it is “with great pride that we stand with the people of Lebanon as they forge a brighter future – one of peace, prosperity and promise long overdue”.

Last week, Israel and Lebanon signed a US-backed framework deal intended to permanently end the conflict with the Hezbollah armed group that is continuing in southern Lebanon.

The agreement includes calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the area, beginning with two pilot areas.

But Hezbollah has rejected the deal, which does not set out a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal.

Hezbollah joined the United States-Israel war with Iran on March ۲ with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In response to the attack, Israel launched an intense campaign of air strikes and a ground invasion in southern Lebanon, occupying swaths of territory.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health on Saturday, the death toll since March ۲ has reached ۴,۳۰۳ killed and ۱۲,۲۰۲ others wounded.

During a visit to southern Lebanon, including the heavily damaged city of Nabatieh, on Saturday, Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said authorities were working on a plan that includes “prefabricated houses and rent assistance payments” to help people return home or move to nearby areas.

Sayed also said that ۴۰۰,۰۰۰ displaced people have returned to their areas in southern Lebanon.

But attacks have also continued in southern Lebanon, with the country’s National News Agency (NNA) reporting on Saturday that an Israeli Apache helicopter fired five missiles towards the town of Majdal Zoun.

Separately, NNA reported that one person was injured after an Israeli strike on the village of al-Mansouri.

In a later statement on Saturday, the Israeli military said its troops killed an armed fighter in the “security zone” in southern Lebanon, where the military is stationed.

“Earlier today, IDF soldiers identified an armed terrorist operating inside the Security Zone, in the Majdal Zoun area in southern Lebanon,” the military said, adding that troops “opened fire at the terrorist” and then after conducting extensive searches, “eliminated” him.