Aoun to meet Rubio Sunday and Trump Tuesday

President Joseph Aoun has arrived in Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, after the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks wrapped up in Italy.

It is the first trip to Washington by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Suleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009.

Aoun will hold talks "with several American officials on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire", as well as on "the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies", the presidency said.

Confirming Aoun's arrival in a later statement, the Lebanese presidency said he would meet U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio on Sunday and Trump on Tuesday.

Israel and Lebanon -- which do not have formal diplomatic relations -- began U.S.-sponsored negotiations in April aimed at reaching a peace deal and permanently ending the Israel-Hezbollah war.

On June 26, they reached a framework agreement in Washington under which the Israeli military is to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army is to deploy, starting with two "pilot zones".

The agreement is contingent on the disarmament of Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has flatly rejected both the deal and the Israel-Lebanon negotiations that underpin it.

Following the latest round of talks this week in Rome, Israel and Lebanon "agreed on the structure and guidelines" for implementing the pilot zones, a U.S. official said.

A Lebanese military source told AFP that the army had begun intensifying patrols in several villages adjacent to areas occupied by Israeli forces, including Froun in Bint Jbeil district, in preparation for implementing the pilot zones provision.

Hezbollah held a rally in the coastal city of Tyre on Saturday to reiterate its rejection of the plan.

Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, when it began striking Israel in support of its backer Tehran.

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion, and despite a ceasefire it continues sporadic attacks and holds territory in the south in what it describes as a "security zone".