US President Donald Trump has publicly criticized Israel’s military tactics in Lebanon in a rare move. He emphasized that it is not necessary to bombard entire residential buildings in order to “search for enemies”.
In recent days, Trump expressed his displeasure with Israel’s attacks on Beirut. According to him, Israel has been waging war against Hezbollah for “too long”.
“Many people died. You don’t need to destroy a residential building every time you search for someone, because there are many people living there, and not all of them are Hezbollah.”, said Trump at the G7 summit in France.
This objection of Trump is related to the relationship with the Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu the tension is heightened coincided. However, he and Netanyahu remained key political allies over the years.
In recent times, the tension has become more apparent. Israeli officials are secretly protesting the US-Iran deal. And Trump insulted Netanyahu because of Israel’s attacks on Beirut. Because these strikes caused Iran’s counterattacks at the very time when Trump was working on finalizing the peace deal.
“Without US there would be no Israel” Trump. pic.twitter.com/pnfJDzWse5
— Maj Digvijay Singh Rawat, Kirti Chakra (Retd) (@Dig_raw21) June 17, 2026
Continuing his speech, Trump said he had a “great relationship” with Netanyahu, but added that he should be “more responsible” on Lebanon.
“Without us, without the United States of America, Israel would not exist. Israel would not exist without me. Because no other president was willing to do what I did.”, Trump said.
The two leaders have clashed several times in the past over Israel’s refusal to curb its pursuit of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Because the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon is the main demand of Iran.
Shortly after Trump expressed these views, a video containing these words was posted on his official page, which shares clips from the president’s public speeches. The White House noted that President Trump has a strong relationship with Netanyahu and that the Israel Defense Forces are “great partners.”
“There has never been a more loyal friend and champion of peace for Israel than President Trump…Americans and our allies around the world are already living in a safer environment because of the determined efforts of the United States and Israel to prevent the Iranian regime from developing a nuclear weapon.”said a White House official.
According to Reuters, there are no signs that Trump’s announcement will translate into any serious political action to force Israel to rethink its military tactics to better protect civilians.
Israel has been criticized by other countries until now. Especially since his two-year war in Gaza has killed 73,000 people, most of them civilians, which has drawn much criticism.
So far, Israeli officials have not commented on Trump’s words.
