Administration

Trump tells Netanyahu to pull back on Israel’s barrage on Lebanon

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by Julia Manchester - 04/09/26 2:38 PM ET

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by Julia Manchester - 04/09/26 2:38 PM ET

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President Trump on Thursday confirmed he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back on a barrage of strikes Israel is conducting in Lebanon, as that operation stands to threaten a fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Iran has indicated that a two-week ceasefire agreement reached Tuesday with the U.S. includes the halting of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. But Israel conducted its largest scale attack yet in its latest offensive Wednesday, hitting 100 sites in 10 minutes, prompting Iran to respond by closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump on Wednesday agreed with Netanyahu that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire, going against what Iran and Pakistan, which has emerged as a key mediator, had understood.

“I spoke with Bibi and he’s going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key,” Trump said.

The president echoed rhetoric by Vice President Vance, who told reporters traveling with him on the way back from Hungary on Wednesday that Israelis may “check themselves a little bit” in the assault on Lebanon.

“Netanyahu is going to be fine. He’s going to low-key a little bit. He’s got a problem with Hezbollah. He’s going to low-key a little bit, but he’s going to be absolutely fine,” Trump also told Israeli journalist Neria Kraus in a phone interview Thursday.

NBC News reported earlier Thursday that Trump asked Netanyahu to scale back on the strikes.

Netanyahu said in a post on the social platform Xon Thursday that he directed his government “to open direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible.” The Israeli leader said the talks would focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between the two countries.

The developments come after Israel launched its most intense strikes in Lebanon since the Iran war broke out earlier this year. While Pakistan, the mediator in the U.S.-Iran talks, and Iran said Lebanon was a part of the two-week ceasefire, Trump and Netanyahu said the Middle Eastern country was never a part of the temporary truce.

The Israeli military began its latest campaign against Hezbollah on March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran. The Israeli military struck 100 targets across Lebanon on Wednesday, according to Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a spokesperson.

Heba Morayef, the regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said Wednesday marked the deadliest day in Lebanon since Israel resumed strikes last month.

While speaking to reporters in Hungary on Wednesday, Vance said Iran’s belief that Lebanon was a part of the ceasefire amounted to “a legitimate misunderstanding.”

Vance also told reporters that Israel offered “to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon, because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful.”

“That’s not because that is part of the ceasefire,” Vance continued. “I think that’s just the Israelis trying to set us up for success, and we’ll of course see how that unfolds in the next few days.”

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