Lebanese army troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Tuesday after ‌Israeli forces withdrew from the area, a senior Lebanese security official said, in line with a US-brokered plan.The plan foresees ​Lebanese army troops confiscating weapons from the Iran-aligned Hizbullah group in parts of southern Lebanon and phased withdrawals of Israeli troops. The Israeli military said on Monday that the plan, dubbed the pilot zone programme, had begun. ​It had no immediate comment on Tuesday.Tuesday’s handover of territory is the first test of the plan, which Lebanon ⁠hopes will enable it to restore control over a strip of land about 10km ​deep into the country that remains occupied by Israeli troops.Dozens of villages have been razed in that area and public infrastructure has been ⁠destroyed, including hospitals, power stations and ​water pumps. Tens of thousands of Lebanese who ​call the area home have been unable to return.The latest round of fighting between Hizbullah ‌and Israel erupted at the start of ​March, two days after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran. Hizbullah said ⁠its actions were in support of ⁠Tehran.The Lebanese army ​said its units began deploying in Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh in the Nabatieh region on Tuesday.The army renewed a call for residents not to enter the town until the security situation stabilised and to follow instructions from deployed military units for their own safety.The Israeli military confirmed on Monday that it was redeploying its forces as part of the pilot programme.“The pilot serves as a test of the Lebanese ‌armed forces’ sovereignty in the ⁠three pilot villages, as the sole official authority authorised to bear arms in the area,” an Israeli military official said.Israeli officials have voiced scepticism about Lebanon’s ability to ‌disarm Hizbullah but Israel sees the deal reached last month as a vital step towards building peace with ​Lebanon in the long run.Lebanese president Joseph Aoun is due on Tuesday to meet US president Donald Trump in Washington. to present a plan on how to disarm Hizbullah and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.Aoun, who served as the commander of Lebanon’s US-backed army before being elected president last year, is the first Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years to visit the White House, where he ​will meet Trump face to face for the first time.The meeting comes at a crucial moment for Lebanon: Israeli troops are occupying a swathe of the country’s south, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced following Israeli strikes and Hizbullah has firmly rejected the government’s direct talks with Israel – and efforts by the state to strip it of its arms.Aoun arrived in Washington at the weekend and met US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Sunday, telling him Israel should begin withdrawing from southern Lebanon ​in line with a US-brokered June 26th agreement between Lebanon and Israel.That deal aims to disarm Hizbullah, see a progressive Israeli troop withdrawal and set the stage for peaceful ties between the two countries.A Lebanese official said Aoun believed only Trump possessed the leverage needed ⁠to pressure Israel to withdraw its troops and help Lebanon restore its sovereignty. The official said Aoun, in addition to asking the US president to press Israel to withdraw, would ‌present ​Trump with a written proposal on how to decommission Hizbullah’s large arsenal.Aoun (62) became president just before Trump began his second term in the White House. The US welcomed Aoun’s election.Aoun is a Maronite Christian, as required by Lebanon’s sectarian powersharing system which stipulates the prime minister must be Sunni Muslim ⁠and the speaker of parliament must be Shiite Muslim. A career soldier, Aoun was ​wounded twice and still carries a shrapnel wound.His rise reflected a big shift in the power ​balance in Lebanon, following a devastating Israeli offensive against Hizbullah in 2024 and the ousting as president of Hizbullah’s Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad – seismic events that weakened the group and its long-decisive hold over the state. – Reuters