The Lebanese Armed Forces began deploying to Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh in southern Lebanon on July 21 following Israel's withdrawal from the town as part of a U.S.-brokered "pilot zone program," Axios reported the same day. Concurrently, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House to propose a plan to achieve a lasting peace with Israel, under which Lebanese army troops would confiscate weapons from the political and militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon alongside phased Israeli withdrawals.