New Delhi, July 22 -- WASHINGTON - For four decades, Lebanese-Americans have reached Beirut only through layovers in Paris, connections through Amman, or long transits in Dubai. President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States would lift its 41-year ban on direct airline service to Lebanon, a move that followed weeks of diplomatic engagement with Beirut and signals a broad American re-engagement with a country long left to the margins of regional policy.

The ban traces to June 1985, when Hezbollah operatives seized TWA Flight 847, holding 153 passengers and crew hostage for 17 days. During the standoff, US Navy diver Robert Stethem was beaten and shot, his body thrown onto the tarmac in Beirut. Washington suspended direct a...