Trump asked Netanyahu to scale back strikes on Lebanon, NBC reports
- Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon, putting the US-Iran ceasefire into further jeopardy
US President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back the strikes on Lebanon to help ensure the success of the Iran negotiations, NBC News reported on Thursday while citing a senior administration official.
Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon, putting the US-Iran ceasefire into further jeopardy after the biggest Israeli attacks on its neighbour of the war killed more than 250 people on Wednesday and threatened to torpedo Donald Trump’s truce.
Trump announced a ceasefire in the six-week-old Iran conflict late on Tuesday on Pakistan’s request, just hours before a deadline after which he threatened to destroy Iran’s entire civilisation.
As high-level talks between the US and Iran are set to take place in Pakistan, Islamabad is also working on ceasefires for Lebanon as well as Yemen, Reuters reported citing a Pakistani source on Thursday.
Netanyahu, whose government rebuffed a historic offer for direct talks with Lebanon last month, said in a statement on Thursday that he had given instructions to start peace talks as soon as possible, which would also include disarming Hezbollah.
Also read: Pakistan working on ceasefires for Lebanon, Yemen: Reuters report
“In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to start direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” he said. “The negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.”
Axios reporter Barak Ravid wrote on X Netanyahu’s statement came after phone calls he held yesterday with US President Trump and White House envoy Witkoff.
“Senior US officials said Witkoff asked Netanyahu to calm down the strikes in Lebanon and open negotiations,” he wrote.
An hour before Netanyahu’s statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he was working on a diplomatic track on this matter that was starting to be seen “positively” by international actors.
A senior Lebanese official told Reuters that Lebanon had spent the last day pushing for a temporary ceasefire to allow for broader talks with Israel, describing the effort as a “separate track but the same model” as the US-Iran truce.
Expressing gratitude for Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s peace initiatives, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Thursday also sought Islamabad’s support in securing an immediate end to the Israeli attacks targeting Lebanon and its people.