Israel strikes Lebanon despite Trump G7 rebuke
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- Israel carried out drone strikes on Mansouri and Aaziyyeh and jet strikes on Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfar Tebnit in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, injuring several people, according to Lebanon's National News Agency; Israel's military has not commented on the strikes but said five of its soldiers were wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack in Lebanon.
- Trump told the G7 summit in France that Netanyahu needed to be "more responsible with respect to Lebanon" and called an Israeli attack "too much," yet added that "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."
- The US-Iran memorandum of understanding, announced Sunday, includes Lebanon according to mediator Pakistan, with both sides expected to sign the deal on Friday in Bürgenstock, Switzerland; Trump said he would likely hold a news conference to read the agreement "word by word."
- Trump claimed the deal would mean Iran "never have a nuclear weapon" and that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen and be "toll-free," arguing it was superior to the 2015 JCPOA because "we didn't pay for it like Obama did. He paid billions of dollars."
- Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem called the US-Iran agreement a "great victory" in a televised address on Wednesday, urging Lebanon to use the moment to demand the withdrawal of Israeli troops from occupied territory and limiting talks to "mutual security."
- Iran's top military command warned Israel of a "harsh response" if it did not end its "malice" in southern Lebanon, after strikes reportedly killed four people on Tuesday; Netanyahu said Monday Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon "for as long as necessary."
- More than 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon during the conflict according to the country's health ministry, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians; Israel reports 30 soldiers and four civilians killed on its side; Lebanon was drawn into the war on March 2 when Hezbollah launched rockets in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran's supreme leader.
Why it matters: Trump's extraordinary public warning to Netanyahu — telling the G7 "Without me, there would be no Israel" while simultaneously touting a US-Iran deal meant to end the wider war — exposes the contradiction at the heart of US policy: brokering a regional ceasefire while Israel continues bombing Lebanon, where over 3,800 people have been killed since March 2, and Iran threatens a "harsh response."
