Why Did Trump Demand that Netanyahu Stop IDF Attack on Hezbollah Sites in Beirut?
The Islamic Republic of Iran said it would stop its negotiations with the U.S. unless Israel stopped fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon. U.S. President Donald Trump, who claims he has all the time in the world to negotiate, is in fact desperate to reach an agreement with Iran that will lead to a resumption of ship traffic through the strait of Hormuz, which the President hopes will lead to a steep drop in the price of oil, and hence of gasoline at the pump, just in time to affect the midterm elections. So Trump, eager to win Tehran’s favor by saving its proxy Hezbollah from the IDF — that has just launched its deepest assault into Lebanon in the last 25 years — has just given his marching, or rather unmarching orders, to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding that he call off the IDF’s assault on Beirut. More on Trump’s demand, and Netanyahu’s response, can be found here: “Trump declares Lebanon ceasefire, calls off IDF strike on Beirut after phone call with Netanyahu,” by Tzvi Jasper and Idan Kweller, Jerusalem Post, June 1, 2026:
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Monday about the potential for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.After the call, Trump announced that Israel had agreed that “there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back.”In exchange, he said, Hezbollah had agreed that all shooting will stop – “That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
That is a bit misleading. Israel agreed only to stop its attack on Beirut, but promised nothing about the rest of Lebanon. Furthermore, he made clear that if Hezbollah did not stop, or stopped only to again resume, its attacks on Israel, the IDF would again attack Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
Later, Netanyahu announced that he had told Trump that “if Hezbollah doesn’t stop attacking our towns and citizens – Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut.”
He also said that the IDF would continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese Embassy in Washington had earlier confirmed that Hezbollah had accepted the US proposal, saying that the ceasefire framework would be expanded to encompass “all Lebanese territories.”tories.”
But as of now, that “ceasefire framework only includes Beirut. The IDF will continue to target “all Lebanese territories” except Beirut.
The embassy’s statement also claimed that Trump had told Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States that Netanyahu had also agreed to the arrangement.
I don’t know if Trump really said this to the Lebanese ambassador, but I am certain of one thing: Netanyahu would never agree to stopping IDF attacks on Beirut no matter what. He made clear that any Hezbollah attack, from anywhere, would trigger a resumption of IDF attacks on Beirut. Netanyahu would never agree to a full ceasefire in Lebanon. That would be a lifesaver for Hezbollah, just as it is finally on the verge of dismantlement under the punishing bombs of the IDF.
Trump is behaving with Netanyahu like a monarch grandly giving orders to an underling. In telling Netanyahu he “must not strike Beirut,” he is protecting the terror group Hezbollah, that previous American administrations have recognized as such. The Americans should not be protecting Hezbollah; it was Hezbollah that murdered 241 Marines in their Beirut barracks in 1982, and has murdered more American citizens in Israel ever since..
The headquarters of Hezbollah are in Dahiyeh, a suburb in southern Beirut, which Israel has repeatedly attacked. Now, if Trump’s order to Netanyahu is obeyed, that will be throwing a lifeline to Hezbollah, that will simply move many of its members into Beirut where, thanks to Trump, they will be free from IDF attack. It’s a preposterous demand that Trump has made of a reluctant Netanyahu, and one that shows Trump is so desperate for a deal with Iran, that he is cravenly prepared to stop the IDF literally in its tracks.
Netanyahu cannot do what Trump demands, which is to stop all attacks on Beirut, and especially on Hezbollah’s stronghold of Dahiyeh. However, nor could he flatly reject Trump’s demand, knowing how vindictive Trump can be with those who do not submit to his diktats. Remember how he treated Zelensky with such contempt when the latter first visited him at the White House. Instead, Netanyahu has seemed to agree, but left such a loophole that will soon allow him to restart the IDF’s attack in Beirut. That loophole is this: Netanyahu announced that he had told Trump that “if Hezbollah doesn’t stop attacking our towns and citizens, Israeli will attack terror targets in Beirut.” How likely do you think it is that Hezbollah will completely stop attacking Israel? And note that even if the Hezbollah attacks are launched from outside Beirut, Israel reserves the right to attack Hezbollah sites in Beirut. Note also that Trump has not demanded that the IDF stop its operations outside Beirut, and these will no doubt continue.
Perhaps Hezbollah, desperate as it now is for the IDF to stop its relentless campaign to wipe out the terrorist group, will agree to stop fighting. But it will take very little for someone in Hezbollah, some fanatic determined to keep fighting the Zionists, to launch a few drones against Israel and thereby provide all the justification the IDF needs to resume its attack on Beirut.
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