Donald Trump cursed and told Benjamin Netanyahu he could be in ‘prison’ if it weren’t for him in a tense call between the 2 leaders.
Trump reportedly told the Israeli Prime Minister: ‘What the f*** are you doing?’ as he threatened to resume airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
‘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 for this reason,’ the US president said, in accordance with Axios.
In May 2024, the International Criminal Court announced it will seek arrest warrants for essentially the most outstanding Israeli and Hamas leaders for crimes against humanity. Netanyahu was included on this.
Israel resumed drone strikes on southern Lebanon after the decision, killing 11 people including two children and their father, at the same time as Hezbollah agreed to dial back fighting.
Hezbollah didn’t perform any attacks on Israel after Trump’s announcement that fighting would decrease.
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The continuing hostilities – despite a nominal ceasefire that began in April – are causing further displacement amongst Lebanon’s conflict-weary population.
Also they are a major sticking point in negotiations to increase a ceasefire within the US-Israeli war in Iran, because the Islamic Republic wants any such deal to finish fighting in Lebanon, too.
Two Iranian news agencies reported on Tuesday that the country cut off communication with mediators facilitating the ceasefire talks.
One other round of talks between Israel and Lebanon began on Tuesday in Washington, where Lebanese negotiators are set to hunt a full ceasefire that may prevent future attacks.
The talks began in April and were the primary in greater than three a long time between the countries, which don’t have any formal diplomatic relations. Hezbollah has rejected direct talks, counting on pressure from Iran.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel previously avoided attacking Beirut out of deference to negotiations between the US and Iran.
But he said Netanyahu informed Trump within the phone call on Monday that Israel would attack Beirut’s southern suburbs if Hezbollah continues targeting northern Israel.
The fighting presents a serious obstacle to the emerging deal to increase the ceasefire within the Iran war that erupted after the US and Israel struck Iran on February 28.
Tehran wants any agreement to incorporate an entire ceasefire in Lebanon.
The most recent round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has killed 3,433 people in Lebanon and displaced a couple of million people.
Trump and Netanyahu have been butting heads over the continued fighting. Last month, the pair spoke on the phone in what was described as a ‘dramatic and lengthy’ call in regards to the war in Iran.
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