Trump and Netanyahu (archive photo)
The United States and Iran may have reached an agreement to end their war, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the item related to Lebanon, Israeli media reported after US President Donald Trump announced that an agreement had been reached.Click here for live updatesOn February 28, Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran, sparking conflict in the Middle East. Lebanon became embroiled in the conflict after Hezbollah, an armed group based in Lebanon and supported by Tehran, entered the war after the assassination of then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the operation.Read also | “The US-Iran peace agreement is now complete,” Trump declared. The signing is scheduled for June 19 in SwitzerlandAccording to Maariv, Netanyahu left a Cabinet meeting on Sunday to speak with Trump, who informed him of the upcoming signing scheduled for Friday in Switzerland.During the call, Netanyahu reportedly told Trump that Israel does not consider itself bound by the Lebanese condition in the Washington-Tehran agreement.The website quoted him as saying: “The IDF will not withdraw from Lebanon, will remain in the positions it currently occupies, and will continue to work to thwart the threat posed by Hezbollah – including destroying terrorist infrastructure and responding to any attack against Israel.”
The two leaders also discussed the raid launched by the Israeli army that day on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, which delayed the agreement before it was later announced.Although Trump brokered a truce between Israel and Lebanon while maintaining Israel’s right to self-defense, both Hezbollah and Israel continued to violate the ceasefire.Iran also made any potential truce conditional on a complete cessation of hostilities against Lebanon.Trump has repeatedly criticized Netanyahu over Israeli raids on Lebanon, including using strong language to describe the Israeli army’s recent attack in Beirut.Read also | “He has no judgment”: Trump is “angry” with Netanyahu over the Israeli strike in Lebanon “an hour before the deal”“It’s very bad – I couldn’t believe it. An hour before the agreement was supposed to be signed. Why did Bibi have to lash out? I was very angry. I told him that. He has no judgment. I told him that,” the US President told reporters, referring to the Israeli Prime Minister’s title, hours before the agreement was announced.
