Lebanon’s army commander is set to visit the United States next week, marking his first trip to Washington since his appointment last year, after a previously planned visit was scrapped amid frustration among US administration officials and lawmakers over his tone toward Israel.

Gen. Rodolphe Haykal will begin his visit on Monday at the headquarters of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa, Florida. He is scheduled to travel to Washington, DC, later that day for meetings throughout Tuesday.

Haykal is expected to meet with officials at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, where discussions will focus on continued, and potentially increased, US military assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).

The US has been the LAF’s largest donor since 2006. Despite periodic accusations that the army has been too lenient toward Hezbollah, or that individual soldiers have sympathized with the group, the LAF has played a central role in the fight against ISIS. It is also widely regarded as the only national institution respected across Lebanon’s political and sectarian divides.

The Trump administration has approved four military support packages in recent months. In September, President Donald Trump approved a rare presidential drawdown of $14.2 million, followed in October by a $240 million package for both the LAF and the Internal Security Forces (ISF). The Pentagon said the PDA would help “build the capability and capacity of the LAF to dismantle weapons caches and military infrastructure of non-state groups, including Hezbollah.”

An international donor conference is scheduled to take place in Paris on March 5 to bolster support for the LAF and the ISF.

During his visit, Haykal is expected to face pointed questions from US lawmakers and officials about the army’s plans to disarm Hezbollah and other non-state armed groups operating across the country. Members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, in particular, are seeking clarity on how future US aid to the LAF would be allocated and why it should be.

Last year, the LAF launched an unprecedented campaign to remove weapons from Palestinian refugee camps. While US officials welcomed the move, Washington has continued to stress that its primary objective remains the disarmament of Hezbollah, which the United States views as a major threat to its closest regional ally, Israel, and to broader Middle East stability.

Hezbollah has trained and supported other Iran-backed militias throughout the region, including Yemen’s Houthis.

The LAF announced the completion of the first phase of its campaign to bring all weapons under the state’s sole authority. That phase focused on disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani River, up to the border with Israel. A second phase is intended to extend north of the Litani and across the rest of the country.

Hezbollah has repeatedly vowed never to relinquish its weapons, despite being on the receiving end of a battering from Israeli military operations over the past two years. The Israeli campaign resulted in the assassination of the group’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, his deputy, and almost all of its senior leadership.

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in neighboring Syria also disrupted Hezbollah’s primary weapons-smuggling routes, although intelligence assessments suggest the group has since reestablished cross-border supply lines.

At the same time, the Lebanese state has moved to reassert control over the country’s airport and ports, which had long been used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons and cash.

Analysts say Haykal’s visit presents an opportunity to refocus US attention on Lebanon under the Trump administration, which has been preoccupied with Venezuela, maintaining the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, ending the war in Ukraine, and mounting tensions with Iran.

Separately, the Congressional Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa is scheduled to hold a hearing next Tuesday on US policy toward Lebanon and the challenges of “dismantling Hezbollah’s grip on power,” according to a notice for the session.