Trump to allow direct US flights to Lebanon after 41-year halt

Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would allow American carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon more than 40 years after the US suspended the route.

Direct flights between the US and Lebanon were suspended in 1985 by Ronald Reagan’s administration following the hijacking of TWA flight 847.

“I 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,” Trump said in a social media post after meeting with the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun.

During the meeting with Aoun, Trump pledged to help Lebanon “a lot”. Aoun came to Washington to push for long-term calm after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

The US has pushed for peace in Lebanon but has been distracted by a new round of escalation in Iran, which has destabilized much of the Middle East. Trump recently said he had little interest in talks with Iran’s leader to end the war – at least for now.

Lebanon and Israel have held rare direct talks mediated by Washington. Aoun’s White House visit was the first by a Lebanese president since 2009.

“It’s been a very badly treated place and country and we’re going to have it properly treated and treated with the respect it deserves,” Trump told Aoun during the White House meeting, which wrapped up the Lebanese leader’s four-day visit to Washington.

“We’re gonna help it a lot,” he said, without giving concrete details.

Lebanon hopes the Washington talks result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large parts of southern Lebanon they currently occupy, and the Lebanese military receiving support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah militants had held sway.

Trump said of Israel’s army fully withdrawing from Lebanon: “They’re in the process of doing that. They’re in the process of redeploying.” He did not elaborate.

Aoun told Trump: “Your vision is peace.” He called it Trump’s “legacy”.