Trump economic zone (southern Lebanon)
US proposal for an economic zone in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border, and the 2026 "pilot zones"
The "Trump economic zone" is a US proposal, first announced in Beirut in August 2025, to turn the area of southern Lebanon near the border with "Israel" into an economic and industrial zone after Hezbollah is disarmed. In 2026 a related model of "pilot zones" was launched in three southern villages.
The 2025 proposal
On 26 August 2025 the US envoy, Tom Barrack, said in Beirut: "We bring in the Gulf countries simultaneously and a new economic zone, which will have some depth to it in the next few weeks." The National reported that Lebanese media said the idea had first been raised in Paris at a meeting between Barrack and Israel's strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer. According to media reports the zone would be an "industrial buffer" near the border, hosting factories, to prevent Hezbollah from returning. The National noted that Israeli experts saw it as a way to meet "Israel"'s security concerns "without involving a reoccupation".[1] Analysts told Al Jazeera the plan was "far-fetched and poorly thought-out".[2]
The 2026 pilot zones
According to Mada Masr, Lebanon and Israel signed a US-mediated trilateral framework on 26 June 2026. On 21 July the US announced pilot zone operations in Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, where the Lebanese army deployed and residents could return. Two months later, Mada Masr reported, only 16 of 263 requested prefabricated homes had arrived, and Israeli troops were 300–400 metres from Zawtar al-Gharbiyah behind an earth berm. A local official told the paper that the Trump economic zone, spanning "more than two dozen towns", focused on "development and investment — not the Lebanese people's return".[3]
Israeli positions
The Alma Research and Education Center argued in March 2026 that "Israel" needed a "civilian-free buffer zone" in southern Lebanon, and that Lebanese civilians should return only when the "Resistance Society" hosting Hezbollah no longer exists.[4] See Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon (2024–present).
See also
Notes
- ↑ The National, 'Trump economic zone' between Lebanon and Israel: What we know The National, 26 August 2025, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Justin Salhani, Will a US-backed economic zone incentivise Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah? Al Jazeera, 1 September 2025, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Lana Harb, Lebanon's 'pilot zone' experiment: The case of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah Mada Masr, 19 October 2026, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Sarit Zehavi and Tal Beeri, Policy Paper – What Is Israel's "Endgame" in the Campaign in Lebanon? Alma Research and Education Center, 15 March 2026, accessed 22 October 2026 (Israeli-side).