Trump says Netanyahu ‘turned his troops around’ after he asked Israel not to bomb Beirut

JTA – US President Donald Trump is claiming credit for another truce between Hezbollah and Israel, nearly two months after surprising both sides by declaring a ceasefire that has teetered ever since. 

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said nothing has changed in Israel’s approach to battling Hezbollah in Lebanon, where it is based. 

“I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his troops around. Thank you Bibi!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday afternoon. “I also had a conversation with representatives of the leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts – Hopefully it will be for eternity!” 

The post followed a similar message published hours earlier in which Trump said “there will be no troops going to Beirut, and any troops that are on their way, have already been turned back”. 

The posts came after days of heavy fighting in Lebanon, where multiple Israeli soldiers have been killed by Hezbollah drones and Israel spurred an evacuation on the outskirts of Beirut after warning that it would soon launch an operation against Hezbollah outposts there. 

In a post of his own on X, Netanyahu confirmed that he had spoken with Trump but did not say that he had agreed to a ceasefire. 

“Tonight, I spoke with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut. This stance of ours remains unchanged,” Netanyahu wrote. “In parallel, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.” 

The Lebanese embassy in Washington, meanwhile, said in a statement that Lebanon had learned that Hezbollah had agreed to a US proposal for a ceasefire. 

The hostilities in Lebanon and northern Israel reflect a distinct front in the US-Israeli war on Iran. When Trump declared a ceasefire in that war in early April, Israel at first maintained that it did not apply to Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy. But Trump insisted that Netanyahu cease fighting in Lebanon, too. 

Two months later, Trump is still negotiating for a permanent end to the Iran war. On Monday, he said on CNBC that he found the talks to be “very boring” and did not care if the Iranians dropped out of discussions.