Joseph Aoun receives US military delegation, including head of Centcom

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with a high-ranking U.S. military delegation at the Baabda Palace on Monday, which notably included Michael Kurilla, the commander of the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) for the Middle East, as reported by the National News Agency (NNA).

U.S. Major General Jasper Jeffers, who co-chairs the cease-fire monitoring committee, U.S. Ambassador to Beirut Lisa Johnson, and several other officers were also present at this meeting. 

The meeting took place during several hours of break in a day at Baabda marked by binding parliamentary consultations with Joseph Aoun, after which the Lebanese Prime Minister is to be designated, a constitutional obligation within the country's sectarian power-sharing system.

This American visit also occurs in the context of significant changes in Lebanon, just days after the election of Joseph Aoun, which fills a two-year and three-month presidential vacancy under foreign pressure, notably from the United States, for a swift resolution, while Lebanon experiences a period of cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel. 

Recently, the United States has established itself as a key player with the implementation, on Nov. 27, of this cease-fire which ended more than a year of cross-border conflict as well as two months of open war between the two countries that resulted in nearly 4,000 deaths in Lebanon.