Lina Altawell
29 June 2026•Update: 29 June 2026
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and army commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal held talks on Monday with US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper and an accompanying delegation to discuss a recent Lebanon-Israel framework agreement.
A presidency statement said talks between Aoun and Cooper focused on preparations regarding the start of implementing the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
"Aoun thanked Cooper for the attention US President Donald Trump has shown to Lebanon in achieving security and stability, and affirmed the Lebanese state's determination to extend its authority, through its armed forces, to the southern international border," it added.
The meeting was attended by the Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Beirut, Keith Hanigan, and Gen. Joseph Clairfield, head of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism committee with Israel.
Lebanese army chief Haykal also met with Cooper and discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, the importance of “ensuring the success of the mechanism to implement a security annex to the framework agreement (between Lebanon and Israel), and ways to enhance future cooperation,” a military statement said.
According to the statement, Haykal thanked the US for its support and stressed the need to continue cooperation between the two armies “in a way that preserves Lebanon’s security and stability.”
The meetings came just three days after Beirut and Tel Aviv signed a US-brokered framework agreement that provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from all Lebanese territory, beginning with two unnamed pilot areas.
Since March 2, Israel has been conducting a military offensive in Lebanon that has killed at least 4,247 people, injured 12,195 others, and displaced over 1 million people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
