President Joseph Aoun with Lieutenant General Joseph Clearfield and the United States ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Aug. 12, 2026. (Photo released on the presidency’s X account)
BEIRUT — President Joseph Aoun welcomed Lieutenant-General Joseph Clearfield, who heads the U.S.-led cease-fire monitoring mechanism, this morning at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, accompanied by the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa.
“The meeting focused on measures to implement the framework agreement reached following the Lebanese-American-Israeli negotiations in Washington, in light of the discussions held by General Clearfield in Israel last week,” according to the Presidency statement published on X.
Lebanon and Israel began direct negotiations in the wake of the re-escalation of the war in March 2026. These talks resulted in June in a framework agreement establishing "pilot zones" in which the Lebanese Army is to disarm Hezbollah, while the Israeli army refrains from intervening. Hezbollah and its ally Amal reject both the negotiations, which have continued since then, and the framework agreement.
For its part, Israel continues demolishing homes and bombing areas in southern Lebanon, and has razed more than 20 villages to the ground, according to its defense minister, Israel Katz. This situation has prompted Lebanon to threaten to suspend the talks.
