US embassy says Lebanon at 'crossroads', urges Aoun-Netanyahu meeting

The U.S. embassy in Beirut said on Thursday that Lebanon was at a crossroads and urged a meeting between President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Its people have a historic opportunity to reclaim their country and shape their future as a truly sovereign, independent nation," the embassy said on X, two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, adding that "the time for hesitation is over."

A direct meeting between Aoun and Netanyahu, "facilitated by President Trump, would give Lebanon the chance to secure concrete guarantees on full sovereignty, territorial integrity, secure borders, humanitarian and reconstruction support, and the complete restoration of Lebanese state authority over every inch of its territory -- guaranteed by the United States," the statement added.