President Donald Trump directed his administration on Tuesday to permit all US airline carriers to operate direct flights to Lebanon, ending a suspension that has been in place since 1985. The announcement, made via Trump’s Truth Social platform, followed a meeting at the White House with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, the first visit by a Lebanese head of state to Washington since 2009. The original ban was imposed under President Ronald Reagan after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, during which a US Navy diver was killed and 153 passengers and crew were held for 17 days by militants linked to Hezbollah.

During the Oval Office talks, Trump pledged that the United States would help Lebanon “a lot”, describing it as a country that had been “very badly treated” for decades. Aoun, a former army commander, pressed for continued US backing for the Lebanese Armed Forces, warning that “without the LAF, everything will collapse”. According to a US source cited by Al-Arabiya, Aoun presented a formal plan to disarm Hezbollah and strengthen the army’s authority, linking a complete Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon to the disarmament process. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the flight decision, stating that the government was ready to implement all necessary technical and executive measures and that the step would support the Lebanese economy.

The meeting took place as the Lebanese army began deploying to one of three “pilot zones” established under a US-brokered framework agreement with Israel, intended to pave the way for a phased Israeli withdrawal and the disarmament of Hezbollah. The Lebanese army reported that Israeli forces opened fire near its units in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, an incident the Israel Defense Forces described as warning shots after soldiers entered an area outside the designated zone. Trump said Israeli forces were “in the process” of redeploying and that Washington would examine additional pressure on Israel. He also expressed willingness to speak directly with Hezbollah if Aoun requested it.

The resumption of direct flights marks a concrete shift in US-Lebanon ties, though no timeline for the start of services was announced, and airlines are expected to remain cautious given ongoing regional security concerns. The US administration is reviewing Aoun’s disarmament proposal, which stipulates that all weapons be placed under state control. The two sides agreed to continue coordination on security, defence and economic matters, but the broader framework remains fragile, with Hezbollah rejecting both the agreement and the disarmament effort, and no confirmed full Israeli withdrawal from occupied areas.