Israeli forces carried out new strikes across southern Lebanon on Wednesday, state media reported, hours after US President Donald Trump accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being "too much" and said he needed "to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon".
Lebanon’s National News Agency said drone strikes injured several people in the villages of Mansouri and Aaziyyeh, while jets attacked Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfar Tebnit. Israel’s military did not comment on the strikes, but confirmed that five of its soldiers were injured in a separate drone attack by the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
“Israel strikes Lebanon again as Trump slams Netanyahu for 'too many' deaths at G7.”
The renewed violence came despite the US-Iran agreement announced on Sunday night, which mediator Pakistan said includes Lebanon. Both Israel and Hezbollah have continued attacks since the deal was reached. Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, declared the agreement a "great victory" in a televised address on Wednesday, urging Lebanon to "benefit from this pivotal point".
Speaking at the G7 summit in France on Tuesday, Trump said Israel had been fighting Hezbollah for "too long and too many people are being killed". He described his relationship with Netanyahu as "great" but added: "I didn’t like that he did an attack … that was too much." In a further jab, Trump said Netanyahu "gets a little excited sometimes" and warned: "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."
Netanyahu has shown no sign of backing down. On Monday he said Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon "for as long as necessary". Israel has invaded southern Lebanon and demarcated a so-called “yellow line” – an area of occupation it claims is needed for internal security. Within that line, Lebanese towns and villages have been demolished and thousands forced to flee, according to Channel 4 News.
Iran’s foreign minister has insisted any peace deal must require an Israeli withdrawal, but Netanyahu has explicitly rejected the idea. On Tuesday, after Lebanese media reported four people killed in Israeli strikes, Iran’s top military command warned Israel of a "harsh response" if it did not end its "malice" in southern Lebanon.
The conflict was drawn into a wider war on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader. Israel responded with a bombing campaign and invasion. More than 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry. Israeli authorities report 30 soldiers and four civilians killed on both sides of the border.