‘Without me, there would be no Israel’, Trump explodes
US President Donald Trump has made a rare public condemnation of Israel’s military tactics targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, saying bombing entire apartment buildings to hunt down militants was unnecessary.
Expressing his dissatisfaction with Israel’s attacks in Beirut in recent days, which he said could jeopardize the peace agreement with Iran, Trump said that Israel has been fighting Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia group close to Iran, “for too long.”
Trump told the G7 summit in France on Tuesday: “Too many people have been killed. You don’t need to tear down an apartment building every time you search for them, because there are too many people in these apartments and not all of them are Hezbollah.”
His complaint comes at a time of rising tensions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who remains an important political ally despite occasional ups and downs between the two leaders over the years.
Tensions have become more evident recently.
As Israeli officials quietly expressed disappointment with the Iran deal, Trump grew impatient with Netanyahu’s attempts to finalize the peace deal, with Iran triggering Israeli attacks on Beirut.
Trump said he had a “great relationship” with Netanyahu, but also added that he needed to be “more accountable” to Lebanon.
“Without us, without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president was willing to do what I did.”
The two leaders have clashed repeatedly over Israel’s refusal to restrict its pursuit of Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Iran’s main demand is an end to hostilities. Trump and other US presidents do not often criticize Israel’s military tactics.
Shortly after he made his comments, an official White House social media account, which typically shares clips of his public comments, posted a video of those specific remarks.
The White House did not say why the official account chose to publish Trump’s remarks, but said the president has a strong relationship with Netanyahu and that the Israel Defense Forces are “incredible partners.”
“Israel has never had a greater friend and warrior of peace than President Trump… Americans and our allies around the world are already safer from the bold actions of the United States and Israel to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop nuclear weapons,” a White House official said. he said.
Israel has faced harsh criticism from other countries, especially during its offensive on Gaza that killed 73,000 people, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Israel says it never targets non-combatants and says militant groups such as Palestinian Hamas and Hezbollah regularly use civilians as human shields.
