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United States President Donald Trump (L) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) in the White House in Washington DC., United States on April 7, 2025 [Avi Ohayon (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu Agency]

US President Donald Trump has delivered a rare public rebuke of Israel’s military conduct in Lebanon, warning that Israel is killing too many civilians in its war with Hezbollah and does not need to destroy entire apartment buildings in pursuit of individual targets.

Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit in France, Trump said: “Israel’s fighting Hezbollah 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, that I can tell you.”

Trump said Israel doesn't need to knock down an apartment building every time it's looking for someone in Lebanon, since plenty of the people living there aren't Hezbollah. pic.twitter.com/0YS7ByqPnP
— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) June 16, 2026

The remarks were seen as an unusually blunt criticism from a US president who has otherwise presented himself as one of Israel’s strongest allies. They also appear to acknowledge what human rights groups and international law experts have long argued: that Israel’s practice of bombing residential buildings in the name of targeting fighters is a violation of international humanitarian law.

Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, intentionally directing attacks against civilians or civilian objects which are not military objectives constitutes a war crime. The laws of war also prohibit attacks expected to cause civilian harm that would be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.

READ: Israeli analysts call Netanyahu ‘liar,’ ‘humiliated’ by Trump after US-Iran deal

Trump went further, saying he had urged Israel to allow Syria to deal with Hezbollah instead. “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,” he said. Trump’s comments is widely seen as a display of frustration with Israeli strikes in Lebanon, which he believes risk undermining his wider efforts to strike a deal with Iran.

The comments are a political blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has insisted that Israel’s military actions in Lebanon are necessary for security. Trump’s statement suggests that Washington is no longer willing to give Israel unlimited rhetorical cover for attacks that kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure.

Trump’s remarks also struck a blow to Israeli propaganda about Iran. Referring to Iranian officials, Trump said: “We are dealing with people that I think are very rational people, and they were nice to deal with. They were strong people, smart people… But they’re not radicalised and they’re looking to help their country.”

For decades, Israeli leaders have portrayed Iran as an irrational and fanatical enemy that only understands force. Trump’s description of Iranian officials as “rational”, “strong” and “smart” undercuts that narrative at a critical moment, as his administration pushes ahead with a US-Iran understanding despite Israeli objections.

The remarks come amid growing signs of strain in US-Israel relations following the Iran deal. Analysts have described Israel and the US as being at a “fork in the road”, with Trump pressing Netanyahu not to derail a ceasefire framework while Israeli officials fear the agreement could restrict their freedom of action in Lebanon and beyond.

Trump’s comments also appear to reinforce Israel’s deepening fear of US abandonment. According to The National, Trump told reporters at the summit: “Without us, without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel.”

READ: US rejects Israeli request to review Iran agreement memorandum, Hebrew media report

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. — Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/ — Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

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‘Without me there is no Israel’ says Trump warning Tel-Aviv to stop flattening homes