WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration would allow US airlines to resume direct flights to Lebanon, ending a suspension that has been in place for more than four decades.

"I am hereby directing my Administration to allow all US airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit this beautiful land," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social after meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House earlier in the day.

Direct commercial flights between the United States and Lebanon were suspended in 1985 under then US President Ronald Reagan in the wake of the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, during which militants linked to Hezbollah held 153 passengers and crew hostage for 17 days and killed US navy diver Robert Stethem.

Aoun is the first Lebanese head of state to visit the White House since 2009.

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Hezbollah disarmament

Ahead of the meeting, Trump said he would discuss privately with Aoun whether the United States would assist Lebanon in disarming Hezbollah.

"We have some very concrete plans already in store for that, with others going in and helping," Trump told reporters before the meeting. "But they're also becoming much more self-sufficient, and we will be speaking about that."

Trump also said he would be willing to speak directly with Hezbollah if requested by Aoun.

"I would speak to Hezbollah. I speak to everybody," Trump said. "If the president wanted me to speak to Hezbollah ... I would."

The meeting came as Lebanon seeks to extend state authority across the country under a US-brokered framework reached with Israel in June. The arrangement aims to facilitate the deployment of Lebanese troops to areas vacated by Israeli forces and advance efforts to reduce tensions along the border.

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Asked whether Washington would take additional steps to press Israel to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Trump said, "We will be looking at that," adding that Israeli forces were "redeploying".

Earlier Tuesday, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire near Lebanese troops deploying in one of the designated pilot zones, a day after the first phase of the deployment began.

Aoun said the "ultimate objective" of the US-brokered framework is to end "the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel forever".