Trump Suggests Syria Could Fight Hezbollah Better Than Israel
Quick Look
- US President Donald Trump criticized Israel's approach to fighting Hezbollah, suggesting Syria could do a "better job" without excessive civilian casualties.
- He also praised Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of HTS, as "very capable."
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Why It Matters
US President Donald Trump has publicly criticized Israel's military strategy in its conflict with Hezbollah, suggesting Syria could be more effective. He also praised the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Syria would do a “better job” fighting the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group than Israel, without “killing everyone else,” US President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday, in a rare public criticism of Israel.
West Jerusalem sent its troops into southern Lebanon to battle Hezbollah in the wake of the US-Israeli attack on Iran. Despite a supposed ceasefire, and with Tehran making an end to the war in Lebanon one of its key demands in negotiations with the US, the Israeli onslaught in the country continues and has even gained momentum in recent weeks.
Trump lamented West Jerusalem’s approach to the conflict, including its routine aerial attacks on densely populated areas, suggesting that neighboring Syria could do a “better job” against the group.
“Israel is fighting Hezbollah for too long, and too many people are being killed. And you don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody. Because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they’re not all Hezbollah,” Trump stated while speaking to the media amid the G7 summit underway in Geneva.
I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah. Because to be honest with you, I think they’d do a better job of doing it.
Trump proceeded to shower praise on the former leader of the Al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, calling him a “very capable” leader who “protected everything that I’ve asked for.”
“If Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone else, [al-Sharaa] will do the job. Syria will do the job. Without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president was willing to do what I did,” he claimed.
Hezbollah backed Syria’s former president, Bashar al-Assad, during the decade-long civil war, fighting the assorted jihadist groups that now comprise the core of the country’s military and security forces. During the conflict, Israel repeatedly bombed Syria, attacking almost exclusively pro-Assad forces and citing the Iranian presence as justification.
Open Questions
- Will Israel alter its strategy based on Trump's comments?
- What is the US's long-term strategy regarding Hezbollah?
- How will Syria respond to Trump's praise?
