{"id":13512,"date":"2026-07-22T11:18:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T06:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13512"},"modified":"2026-07-22T11:18:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T06:18:25","slug":"trump-says-direct-us-lebanon-flights-could-resume-for-first-time-in-more-than-40-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13512","title":{"rendered":"Trump says direct US-Lebanon flights could resume for first time in more than 40 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">WASHINGTON &#8212; <\/span>President Donald Trump said Tuesday he\u2019ll allow American carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon more than 40 years after the US suspended the route.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Direct flights between the U.S. and Lebanon were suspended in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan\u2019s administration following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI 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,\u201d Trump said in a social media post after meeting earlier on Tuesday with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">During a White House meeting on Tuesday with the country&#8217;s leader, Joseph Aoun, Trump pledged to help <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/lebanon\">Lebanon<\/a> \u201ca lot.&#8221; Aoun came to Washington to push for long-term calm after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/hezbollah\">Hezbollah<\/a> militant group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The U.S. has pushed for peace in Lebanon but been increasingly distracted by a new round of escalation with the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/iran\">war in Iran<\/a>, which has destabilized much of the Middle East. Trump recently said he had little interest in talks with Iran&#8217;s leader to end the war \u2014 at least for now. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Lebanon and Israel have held rare direct talks mediated by Washington. Aoun\u2019s White House visit was the first by a Lebanese president since 2009.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cIt\u2019s been a very badly treated place and country and we\u2019re going to have it properly treated and treated with the respect it deserves,\u201d Trump told Aoun during a meeting which wrapped up the Lebanese leader\u2019s four-day visit to Washington. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna help it a lot,\u201d he said, without giving concrete details.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Lebanon hopes the Washington talks result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon that they currently occupy, and the Lebanese military receiving support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah militants had held sway. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump said of Israel\u2019s army fully withdrawing from Lebanon, \u201cThey\u2019re in the process of doing that. They\u2019re in the process of redeploying\u201d but didn&#8217;t elaborate. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Aoun told Trump, \u201cYour vision is peace,\u201d calling it Trump&#8217;s \u201clegacy.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The U.S. president responded by joking, \u201cI do agree with that&#8221; and said Aoun was handsome and \u201cknows how to get to me,\u201d adding, \u201c\u201cNow he can have anything.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Lebanon and Israel <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/lebanon-israel-hezbollah-iran-3b8f85b214c3a603224a888e8882dad6\">announced a \u201cframework agreement\u201d<\/a> on June 26, setting a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw and for the disarmament of Hezbollah, which for decades had a strong presence in southern Lebanon. The deal&#8217;s implementation was to begin in small \u201cpilot zones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The U.S. State Department said Monday that operations in three villages of one pilot zone had begun. Two of them \u2014 Froun and Srifa \u2014 were not under Israeli military control to begin with, and the Lebanese army was already present there, while Israeli forces were at one point in a part of the third village, Zawtar al-Gharbieh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Israeli military said it would \u201cadjust its force posture in one of the pilot areas in order to enable the Lebanese Armed Forces to carry out their mission,\u201d without specifying the location. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Lebanese army said it began deploying troops in Zawtar al-Gharbieh on Tuesday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The June 26 agreement also lays out steps toward an eventual Israel-Lebanon peace agreement. The two countries have never had formal diplomatic ties and have been nominally in a state of war for nearly 80 years after Israel\u2019s establishment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump noted Tuesday of Lebanon, \u201cThere\u2019s a Hezbollah problem\u201d and suggested that he personally could speak with Hezbollah if Aoun wanted him to. He also again floated the idea of having <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/lebanon-syria-trump-israel-hezbollah-war-1de06c560491e9e74d7f4febe195fd31\">Syria intervene to fight Hezbollah<\/a> \u2014 though he didn&#8217;t fully commit to that. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Such a concept would be highly unpopular in Lebanon and potentially embarrass Aoun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">It remained unclear whether Israeli troops actually withdrew from any territory on Tuesday. A Lebanese military official said the Lebanese army was unsure whether Israeli forces had been in Zawtar al-Gharbieh before Tuesday, but that they were in adjacent areas and would open fire on anyone who tried to enter. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">And Israeli military official said Israeli forces had not been in Zawtar al-Gharbieh \u201cfor quite a time&#8221; and \u201cwe didn\u2019t withdraw from there.\u201d Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with military regulations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Still, the pilot zones got off to a rocky start.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Lebanese military said Israeli troops fired Tuesday near an area where they were deploying. The Israeli military said Lebanese soldiers had entered an area that was not part of the pilot zone and Israeli troops fired warning shots in the air. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Lebanese army disputed this, saying its soldiers were within the pilot zone when Israeli troops opened fire. It called on Israel to resolve disputes through \u201cestablished coordination and communication channels, instead of resorting to aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Abed Ezzeldine, mayor of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, was waiting for word from the Lebanese military on whether it&#8217;s safe for displaced residents to check on their homes. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">He said the civilians would go in, but &#8220;only to check it out and see how things are and then we will leave.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;We can\u2019t stay because the infrastructure is completely damaged and houses have been leveled. They (the Israelis) have bulldozed the roads,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Lebanese military last week increased its presence in some of the areas expected to be included in the pilot zone, with troops patrolling and setting up checkpoints.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Aoun on Sunday met with U.S. Secretary of State <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/marco-rubio\">Marco Rubio<\/a>, who said Washington will continue to endorse the Lebanese agreement and support its full implementation. Rubio described the meeting as \u201cvery positive\u201d and warned that Lebanon will \u201cnever be fully at peace\u201d as long as the Hezbollah issue is not resolved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cHow do you replace Hezbollah? You defeat and replace them with a government that is strong enough to be the sole force of arms in the country,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Skeptics in Lebanon fear that a military confrontation with Hezbollah could lead to a civil war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Government officials have urged investment in the country&#8217;s battered infrastructure to empower the weakened state, which Rubio echoed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Israeli officials, meanwhile, have said they plan to keep troops long-term in a \u201csecurity zone\u201d in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Hezbollah has dismissed the U.S.-brokered direct talks and instead backed Washington\u2019s talks with its key ally and patron Iran to end their war, which includes ending the war in Lebanon as a condition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Lebanon\u2019s government came to power on a reformist platform in early 2025, vowing to disarm all non-state groups, including Hezbollah, which it blames for dragging the country into another war with Israel in March, when the militant group fired several rockets toward northern Israel two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Beirut&#8217;s leadership, however, has condemned Israel\u2019s subsequent ground invasion and massive aerial campaign in the country, which has killed over 4,000 people and displaced 1.2 million others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">While grappling with stark political opposition from Hezbollah and allies within the deeply divided country, Lebanon&#8217;s leadership insists that Israeli withdrawal and international financial support for Lebanon\u2019s cash-strapped army is crucial for a sustainable security solution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Chehayeb reported from Beruit. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell&#8217;Orto and Erin Cunningham in Jerusalem and Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON &#8212; President Donald Trump said Tuesday he\u2019ll allow American carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon more than 40 years after the US suspended the route. Direct flights between the U.S. and Lebanon were suspended in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan\u2019s administration following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. \u201cI am hereby directing my&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/9e24cd58-b761-4bbe-b1f3-ffbd295d1299\/wirestory_e0364d0334c2f4d888d2b3970c9fe5b1_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}