President Joseph Aoun received by Pope Leo XIV on June 13, 2025 at the Vatican. (Credit: Archive photo X LBpresidency)
BEIRUT — President Joseph Aoun flew to Rome on Wednesday afternoon, where he is set to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday and visit the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Leo XIV.
Discussions regarding the future of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), whose mandate expires at the end of 2026, will be on the agenda, a Lebanese official told AFP. The head of state is also scheduled to meet with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella and several senior officials of the Holy See, including Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
This visit comes amid renewed tensions in southern Lebanon in recent days, where the war between Israel and Hezbollah continues despite the framework agreement reached at the end of June between Beirut and Tel Aviv to establish "pilot zones" where the Lebanese Army is to disarm Hezbollah.
U.S. General Joseph Clearfield, who leads the new U.S.-led cease-fire monitoring mechanism, is once again in Lebanon, where he has met with the commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Army.
The latest rounds of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel took place in Rome, but no new meeting has yet been scheduled, with Beirut accusing Israel of refusing to accept Lebanese conditions, which include a complete cease-fire and a halt to destruction and earthworks carried out by the Israeli army, according to information from L’Orient-Le Jour.
