Speaking to reporters at the G-7 summit, US President Donald Trump sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said that Israel's attacks in Lebanon were unnecessary.
Earlier, Netanyahu had not shown any particularly positive attitude towards the peace deal between America and Iran and had indicated that his current tough attitude towards Iran would continue.
Trump said about Israel, "Israel has been fighting Hezbollah for too long, which is why a lot of people are being killed. It doesn't make sense to destroy an entire area when you're looking for someone, because civilians also live there. Not all the people living there are Hezbollah."
He said, "I advise Israel to let Syria deal with Hezbollah. I think they can do it better than Israel. There was an attack in Beirut just as the deal was being signed. I don't like it. I have told them that."
Referring to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Trump said, "If Israel can't do its job without killing anyone, then the Syrian president will do it for me. Syria will do it."
He further said, "Without us there would be no Israel. There would be no Israel without me because no American President has done for them what I did."
Tough attitude towards Netanyahu and praise for Lebanon
Trump said about his relationship with Netanyahu, "I have a very good relationship with Bibi (Binyamin Netanyahu). But Bibi now needs to be more responsible in the matter of Lebanon. Lebanon used to be a great country with great professors, doctors and lawyers."
"It used to be a country of intellectuals. But now the situation there is terrible. Very bad happened to Lebanon. They could not protect themselves. They have Hezbollah which is a problem for them."
"Israel did not deal with Hezbollah and Lebanon properly. They should have done it sooner. This has been happening forever. When this happens, a good deal gets spoiled."
The deteriorating relations between America and Israel
For the last few days, there has been tension in the relations between Netanyahu and Trump.
There is no significant positive reaction in Israel regarding the peace deal between Iran and America. Following domestic political pressure, Netanyahu made a statement, "Whether there is a deal or not, as long as I am Prime Minister of Israel, Iran will not have any nuclear weapons."
While America's peace talks were going on with Iran, Israel carried out several attacks on Lebanon. Iran expressed deep anger on this and claimed that the ceasefire in Lebanon is also a part of this peace deal.
America or Trump did not confirm this claim of Iran, but during the talks on the deal, Trump strongly criticized these Israeli attacks on Lebanon and in a phone call he also strongly reprimanded Netanyahu.
According to BBC correspondent Tom Bateman, these statements of Trump show how angry he is with Netanyahu. He was referring to the attack on Beirut which happened when he was about to seal the peace deal with Iran.
He described the Israeli attacks as excessive and unnecessary. He advised Netanyahu to be more responsible. Israel is arguing in its favor that it is carrying out these attacks to deal with the threat of Hezbollah, but the US President said that for this it is using more force than necessary.
He said that if Netanyahu cannot do this work, then Syria will do it. This is a big statement from him. Especially considering Lebanon's diverse society and its painful history.
