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The Trump administration, Israel and Lebanon on Friday announced a trilateral framework aimed at kicking out Iran’s influence in the country through its support of the militant group Hezbollah and paving a way for an Israeli withdrawal from territory it holds in the south.
The agreement came after three days of intense talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials that were mediated by the United States.
“This was a long and difficult meeting,” Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad said.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said the agreement has put “the train back on the tracks,” after warning at the start of the talks on Tuesday that the negotiations were at risk of becoming a train wreck.
“We have put the train back on the tracks, and it’s running in the right direction,” he said. “Final destination: peace between our two countries.”
A joint statement released by the U.S., Israel and Lebanon said the parties have agreed on a “clear and structured process to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah,” dismantle its terrorist infrastructure and enable an Israeli withdrawal.
The framework also creates a trilateral military coordination group for Lebanon, facilitated by the United States, that allows Beirut and Jerusalem to implement the framework.
“For Lebanon, this Framework provides a genuine pathway out of a long crisis. For Israel, it creates a verifiable path to removing the persistent threat on its northern border,” the statement reads.
The U.S. is providing $100 million in humanitarian assistance, in coordination with the United Nations, according to the statement, which also announced an “intent” to improve the fighting capacity of the Lebanese military. The U.S. is “prepared to reimburse the LAF with more than $30 million under existing authorities,” the statement read, using an abbreviation for the military.
“In this performance-based trilateral framework agreement, Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in,” Leiter said in remarks at the signing.
Iran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon a core pillar of its June 17 memorandum of understanding with the U.S. — intent on halting Israeli attacks against its proxy force Hezbollah. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President Vance have said Iran will be part of a “deconfliction mechanism” to monitor the ceasefire, but the trilateral framework statement does not mention a role for Iran.
Rubio described the agreement as “the beginning of the beginning.”
“There is a lot of work ahead. We don’t in any way underestimate the difficulty of the task ahead. But we understand the importance of it, how vital it is, and we are honored to have played a part in bringing this together,” he said.
Hezbollah renewed fighting against Israel in March, striking after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks against Iran at the end of February. The fighting with Israel has displaced an estimated 1 million people in southern Lebanon since March. Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 3,000 people.
President Trump has lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in public, criticizing Israeli strikes he views as excessive and threatening the ceasefire with Iran.
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