Trump urges Netanyahu to scale back Lebanon strikes — as Israel set to negotiate with Beirut

Ronny Reyes /NEW  YORK POST

 

President Trump urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back the strikes in Lebanon that are threatening to undo the fragile cease-fire with Iran — with the Jewish state agreeing to negotiate with Beirut next week.

The president called his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday and called on him to be a helpful partner ahead of the high-stakes US-Iran talks slated to begin Saturday in Pakistan.

“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 told NBC of his phone call with Netanyahu.

Vice President JD Vance struck a similar tone on Wednesday, telling reporters in Hungary that Israel had agreed to rein in its attacks following one of the most intense bombings of the war on Wednesday that left more than 250 people dead in Lebanon in just 10 minutes. 

 

The US and Israel have both insisted that Israel’s fight against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group based in Lebanon, is not covered in the two-week cease-fire, but following Trump’s request, Netanyahu said Israel would open the channels for cease-fire talks.“In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, yesterday I instructed the cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

The talks would center on “disarming” Hezbollah and establishing renewed peace between Israel and Lebanon, Netanyahu added.

The meeting is expected to begin next week in Washington, with the US side led by Michel Issa, the American ambassador to Lebanon, according to Axios.

It comes after Israel’s military issued a fresh evacuation order on Thursday for southern Beirut, including for areas that have yet to be hit during the war.

“The Defense Army continues its operations and strikes against military infrastructure belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah in various parts of the Southern Suburbs,” Israel Defense Forces Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

“Out of concern for your safety, you must evacuate immediately,” he added. 

The warning triggered a mass exodus, with roads snarled by civilians trying to flee the conflict zone. Israel’s evacuation warnings have often been followed by airstrikes.

Iran has slammed Israel’s actions in Lebanon as a clear violation of the two-week cease-fire agreement, with Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warning of retaliatory action if the fighting continues.

“Ceasefire violations carry explicit and STRONG responses,” Ghalibaf said in a statement.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh claimed Wednesday’s attack would have pushed the Islamic Republic to resume the war if not for mediators in Pakistan, who agreed that Lebanon is included in the cease-fire agreement.

“Iran was on the verge of responding to the cease-fire violation last night,” he said, according to Mizan, the Iranian judiciary’s official news agency.

“Pakistan intervened and conveyed messages indicating that the United States would control Israel,” Khatibzadeh added. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters in Berlin that he and other European leaders have also been pushing Netanyahu to end the attacks in Lebanon, saying the conflict with Hezbollah could “cause the peace process as a whole to fail.”

The tension in Lebanon comes as US and Iranian delegates look to meet in Islamabad this week for diplomatic talks aimed at ending the war. See photos, and video here.