Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military’s operations in southern Lebanon would continue unabated, seemingly contradicting President Donald Trump’s claim that a ceasefire was now in place.
On Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he had conversations with both Netanyahu and Hezbollah through intermediaries and that both had pledged not to attack the other if their opponent didn’t. Despite this, Netanyahu appeared to contradict him just two hours later, announcing in a post on X that Israeli military operations would continue as planned, citing attacks from Hezbollah as the reason.
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“Tonight, I spoke with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens—Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut,” he said. “This stance of ours remains unchanged. In parallel, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.”
Despite appearing to go against Trump’s wishes and dashing hopes for a ceasefire, Netanyahu’s statement featured rhetoric that didn’t directly contradict the president’s announcement; he phrased Israel’s continued operations as being in response to Hezbollah’s attacks, implying the terrorist group wasn’t holding up its part of the bargain.
Trump’s Truth Social post also appeared to include a misunderstanding. He began by stating that “there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back.” Though the Israeli militia had announced planned airstrikes on Beirut and crossed the Litani River, it never suggested that any ground troops were headed for the capital.
A ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since last month, brokered between representatives from Israel and the Lebanese government, but it has effectively only existed in name. Hezbollah, which wasn’t party to negotiations, said it would disregard the ceasefire from the outset, and Israel’s combat operations have continued effectively unabated.
Though the ceasefire has hardly been in place, Israel has held back from excessive attacks on areas outside of southern Lebanon to avoid angering Washington.
The most recent flurry of diplomatic activity began Monday when Iran said it was withdrawing from negotiations in response to Israel’s attacks in Lebanon. Tehran insisted that the April ceasefire applied to Lebanon as well, pushing Trump to try and negotiate a renewed ceasefire.
Trump’s call with Netanyahu was reportedly not a friendly one, two U.S. officials and a third source told Axios.
“You’re f***ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this,” Trump reportedly told Netanyahu, adding at one point, “What the f*** are you doing?”
Despite this, Trump posted a friendly analysis of the call on Truth Social, speaking after Netanyahu’s own statement.
“I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon,” Trump said. “He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi! I also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel, and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY!”
TRUMP SEEKS TO CALM ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH FIGHTING IN LEBANON
The Israeli militia expanded combat operations beyond south Lebanon last week, with regular troops crossing the Litani River for the first time since the Israeli military withdrew in 2000. Israeli troops seized the Crusader castle Beaufort over the weekend, a fort that became a symbol of its previous occupation. The capture marked another major symbolic blow for Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has fared slightly better in the war than in the previous round of fighting in 2023 to 2024, due in part to its expanded use of first-person view drones. Israel has been unable to form an effective counter to the new weapon, and Israeli defense commanders have put pressure on Jerusalem to expand the war in an attempt to disrupt Hezbollah’s supply lines.
