President Donald Trump issued a fresh criticism of Israeli tactics in Lebanon, telling Prime Minister Netanyahu in remarks reported Wednesday that Israel could operate 'a little more gently' and should not demolish an entire building every time a Hezbollah operative enters it, according to Israeli media.
President Donald Trump has further sharpened his criticism of Israeli tactics in Lebanon, telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in new remarks reported Wednesday evening that Israel can 'act a little more gently' and does not need to level an entire building every time a Hezbollah operative enters it. The quote, attributed to Trump by Israeli media, follows a sequence of escalating public pressure from the president over the past 72 hours.
The thread began on Sunday, June 14 at 17:48 Jerusalem, when Trump first said the Beirut strike 'should not have happened' and urged an end to Israeli attacks anywhere in Lebanon. In rapid succession that same hour, versions 2 through 8 of this story were published, each reporting a harsher Trump statement — from calling the strike a 'mistake' (version 5) to demanding no further Israeli strikes (version 4) to, by Tuesday, specifically criticizing the demolition of apartment buildings to target individual operatives (version 8, published at 17:48 Jerusalem Tuesday). The initial reports came via single Israeli news outlets; by Tuesday evening multiple newsrooms were carrying the president's remarks, though all remain attributed to unnamed sources or Israeli media aggregates rather than to an on-the-record White House statement.
As The Zioneer reported earlier Wednesday (at 19:17 Jerusalem), from the G7 summit Trump called Netanyahu a 'great guy' who 'gets excited sometimes,' while acknowledging a 'disagreement' on Lebanon and asserting that the U.S. is 'the one who decides.' A subsequent bulletin at 19:23 Jerusalem described the same summit remarks in similar terms. Background: on Tuesday Trump had called the Lebanon campaign a 'mini-war' and suggested Syria should handle Hezbollah. Throughout these reports, the president has framed his criticism as an effort to protect a pending U.S.-Iran deal from being derailed by Israeli operations.
What remains open is whether Trump's words reflect a coordinated diplomatic signal to Israel or a series of uncoordinated, off-the-cuff remarks; no official Israeli government response to the latest quote has been reported. The White House has not issued a direct, attributable statement on the record regarding the new 'gently' remark.
10 developments
- StrongTrump: Netanyahu 'great guy,' told him to be 'gentler' with Lebanon — Hezbollah drone intercepted as he speaks
- DevelopingNetanyahu: 'Even the best families have disagreements' amid Trump tensions
- DevelopingTrump says ties with Netanyahu are 'excellent,' denies frustration
- StrongTrump says Israel's Beirut strike was not coordinated with US, plans to call Netanyahu to urge restraint
Source and signal
- Internal intake