‘Too many killed’: Trump tells Netanyahu that Syria, not Israel, should combat Hezbollah

Washington: US President Donald Trump says he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Syria should take responsibility for combatting the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon because Israel’s campaign had been too violent and cost too many lives. The revelation comes at a strained time in the relationship between the close allies, as Trump pursues a deal with Iran that ends the war but leaves many substantial questions unanswered, and Netanyahu vows to keep troops in Lebanon and continue the fight against Hezbollah. Israel persisted with strikes targeting the Iranian proxy despite a ceasefire being agreed in April.

A report by Human Rights Watch last week said at least 3711 people had been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon since March 2, including 1417 during the ceasefire, citing Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Speaking ahead of a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar at the G7 in France, Trump said he suggested to Netanyahu that Syria should be entrusted to deal with Hezbollah, not Israel, and would do a better job. “Israel is fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed,” he said.

“You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody. Because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they’re not all Hezbollah.” Syria is led by president Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously led Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which was classed as a terrorist organisation by the US and the United Nations.

Sharaa orchestrated the rebel offensive that toppled Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad. The US and UN have since removed sanctions against him. Trump hosted Sharaa at the White House last year, and on Tuesday said he was “very good with Hezbollah, [he] does not like them”.

“He’s very capable, and he’s been very good for me, he’s protected everything that I’ve asked for. And if Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone else, he’ll do the job – Syria will do the job.” The US president’s comments were amplified by one of the White House’s main social media channels.

Trump repeated his condemnation of Israel’s attack on Beirut in the hours before the deal with Iran was being finalised – something he heavily criticised Netanyahu over, calling him “f---ing crazy” and lacking judgment. “I didn’t like where two hours before we’re signing the agreement, there was an attack in Lebanon,” Trump said in France. “In Beirut.

It wasn’t like the southern side, it was in Beirut. I did not like that - I let them know that.” His remarks came shortly after Netanyahu confirmed he would contest Israeli elections that are due by October and that Israeli troops would remain in what he called a “security zone” in southern Lebanon.

Israel’s longest-serving prime minister said he and Trump did not always see eye-to-eye, and distanced himself from Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran, saying it was a decision of the US president and he had expressed his opinion privately. “With an agreement, without an agreement – as long as I am the prime minister of Israel, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said. Israeli media including The Jerusalem Post reported that the US denied an Israeli request to see the one-and-a-half page MOU, which would represent a major break between the key allies.

A US official said this was incorrect, saying: “The United States has remained in close coordination with our regional partners, including Israel, throughout the negotiations.” Another source familiar with the matter denied the Israelis made such a request of American negotiators. According to a purported copy of the MOU published by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya English on Tuesday (US time), the agreement stipulates that the war will end “on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on, they will not launch any hostile action against each other”.

That text – which has not been verified by this masthead – also said the US and its regional partners would create a “comprehensive plan ... for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while ensuring financing of at least $US300 billion ($424 billion)“. Trump, speaking at the G7 in France, reiterated that the text of the agreement would be made public in due course, and said he was inclined to read it aloud at a press conference.

A signing ceremony is due to be held on Friday at Bürgenstock, a luxury resort overlooking Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, the Swiss foreign ministry said. Trump has suggested he is unlikely to attend and the US will be represented by Vice President JD Vance, who took a leading role in the negotiations. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world.

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