Israel, Lebanon renew ceasefire as Trump admits calling Netanyahu ‘crazy’ – National
US President Donald Trump has admitted that he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “crazy” in a phone call that included insults, and said he was “disappointed” that Israel’s fight against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon was delaying peace talks with Iran.
But as the US president acknowledged the differences in an interview released on Wednesday, he stressed that his relationship with Netanyahu was strong and that they connected, in part, because they were both “wartime” leaders.
“We worked very well together. I love Bibi very much. And I work very well with her,” Trump told the New York Post’s “Pod Force One.”
In an interview with the US business news channel CNBC, Netanyahu responded that he and Trump sometimes had “strategic disagreements” but “shared goals” and “agreed on important things.”
“He respects me. I respect him. We always find a way to resolve our differences,” said the prime minister.
The president’s comments on Monday’s phone call signaled the growing pressure he faces to resolve the Iran conflict as high energy prices and economic uncertainty threaten Republicans’ chances in midterm elections and disrupt global trade.
The talks have dragged on for weeks and have been marred by Israel’s extended war with Iran-backed militias in Lebanon. Tensions have escalated as Iran insists that any possible deal in the war must end the fighting in Lebanon.
Israel, Lebanon renew ceasefire
Israel and Lebanon agreed on Wednesday to renew their fragile cease-fire agreement and create several “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon where Hezbollah terrorists will be contained.
In a joint statement issued after the fourth round of US mediation talks at the State Department, the two sides said the ceasefire “depends on the complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the withdrawal of all Hezbollah” from areas south of the Litani River. It was not yet clear how the security zones would be established, but the agreement calls for the Lebanese army to take full control of those zones.
“These steps will enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement,” the statement said. “All countries reaffirmed that the future of relations between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by two independent governments.
They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to seize the future of Lebanon.”
The latter is a reference to Iran, which supports Hezbollah and has insisted that Israel’s attacks on Lebanon be halted as part of a tentative deal with the US to end the conflict with Iran.
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Hezbollah is not part of the Israeli-Lebanon talks, which have been held at diplomatic level in Washington since the beginning of last month.
“All sides have condemned Iran’s attacks on countries in the region, as well as its ongoing actions that destabilize the entire Middle East, even through supporting proxies and all other acts of violence,” the statement said.
A new round of talks will be held during the week of June 22 with the aim of “reaching a comprehensive agreement.”
Trump is not committing to a timeline for ending the war in Iran
Trump remained noncommittal about a timeline for resolving the Iran conflict, saying the Strait of Hormuz could remain blocked through the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 7. He insisted that Iran stop any efforts that could lead to a nuclear weapon and that the strait be reopened to oil and natural gas shipments.
“I don’t know. I mean, I think it’s possible (a Labor Day shutdown), but I think it’s very unlikely. I think we’re going to have it. I think this will resolve itself quickly,” Trump said.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his late father, is “involved” in peace talks, Trump said.
“They have a lot of respect for him,” the president said in an interview.
Trump said Khamenei is not doing well because of the air strike wounds, but “they say he is giving him permission because it has been going on for a long time.” Khamenei’s father was killed in a plane crash when the US and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.
Meanwhile in the Persian Gulf region, Kuwait briefly closed its main airport on Wednesday after Iranian drones crashed into a passenger terminal, killing one person and injuring dozens. It was the latest in a series of back-and-forth attacks by Tehran and Washington that have tested the ceasefire.
The road to a permanent impeachment in Lebanon has been blocked by new strikes
The path to a permanent peace between Israel and Hezbollah remained unclear as hostilities continued in Lebanon.
An Israeli strike on Wednesday hit a car on a busy highway south of Beirut, hours before the second day of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington. The Khaldeh strike came without warning, and it was not clear whether the target was killed.
On Monday Israel and Lebanon reached an agreement made by the US in which Israel will not attack areas south of Beirut and Hezbollah will end its attacks in northern Israel.
The deal was made hours after Israel announced it would launch airstrikes on urban areas near the Lebanese capital in what could be the heaviest strikes since it took effect on April 17.
Lebanon hopes to extend the scope of the ceasefire to the entire country. Israel wants to disarm Hezbollah as soon as possible before the Israeli army ends its operations in Lebanon and withdraws its troops from many cities and towns.
The Israeli army’s warning shakes the coastal city
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon continued, especially in the attacked cities of Tire and Nabatiyeh. Two overnight strikes near Tyre, a coastal city, killed four Syrians and two Palestinians.
Israel has warned its Christian neighbors in Tire that members of Hezbollah are among them. Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims fled to those areas in recent days because they were saved from bombings on the Mediterranean coast.
After the warning, the Lebanese army was sent to the Christian region of Tire in an attempt to prevent an Israeli attack there and to show that Hezbollah does not have weapons in the area.
Israel launched an offensive in southern Lebanon days after the latest war broke out on March 2, when Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in coordination with Iran. Israeli forces have moved deeper into Lebanon in the past week, as Hezbollah continues to launch rocket and drone attacks.
The recent war between Israel and Hezbollah killed 3,468 people in Lebanon and displaced 1.2 million people.
According to Netanyahu’s office, at least 27 Israeli soldiers and contractors were killed in or near southern Lebanon. Two people were also killed in northern Israel.
A strike in the village kills most of the family
Many residents of southern Lebanon remained in towns close to the conflict or returned to areas where the strikes took place after warnings to leave.
The Al-Abdallah family returned to their home in Marwanieyh, which they left because they thought the village was unsafe following previous strikes. A day later, two rockets hit the house, collapsing the three-story building and killing six family members, said the brother of Hassan Al-Abdallah, who was killed.
Ahmed Al-Abdallah, 13, was thrown far from the building by the explosions and was the only member of his family to survive. His uncle, Eissa Al-Abdallah, said the boy had two broken legs and bullet wounds all over his body.
“What’s the use of talking now? They’re gone, and nothing will bring them back,” my uncle told The Associated Press on the phone on Tuesday. “This world calls for blood.”
