President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday Syria should combat Hezbollah in Lebanon, citing an unspecified number of civilian casualties killed in Israeli airstrikes.
The remarks were made at the Group of Seven summit in France during a bilateral meeting between the United States and Qatar. The Middle Eastern nation played an active role in mediating an end to the U.S. war against Iran.
Trump said he told Israel that Syria should “take care” of Hezbollah because he believes “they’d do a better job of doing it.” He referred to Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa, who’s been friendly with Trump since Syrian rebels ousted Bashar Assad in December 2024.
“He’s very capable. And he’s been very good for me. He’s protected everything that I’ve asked for,” Trump said of Sharaa. “And if Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone else, he’ll do the job. Syria will do the job.”
The president went on to say he was “not happy” with Israel aggressively targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon as he’s trying to secure a resolution to the broader conflict with Iran. The terrorist group is backed by the Islamic regime.
“Israel is fighting Hezbollah too long, and too many people are being killed,” Trump said. “And you don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody. Because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses. And they’re not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you.”
“They should have been able to do the job faster,” he said of Israel. “It just goes on forever. And when that happens, it throws a negative light on the big deal, and that’s the deal with Iran.”
Trump pointed to the Israeli strike in Beirut that preceded the peace framework signed by the U.S. and Iran on Sunday, implying that the ceasefire efforts could have been put in jeopardy by Israel’s military actions.
Israeli officials are not fond of the memorandum of understanding that is set to be signed on Friday, arguing that Hezbollah should continue to be dismantled instead.
Iran is pushing for the final peace deal to include a separate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in addition to the main one. Israel is reluctant to agree to a permanent ceasefire with Lebanon that requires the withdrawal of its troops.
While the U.S. started the war against Iran in coordination with Israel over three months ago, the relationship between the two allies became strained due to divergent strategies in ending the fighting. The U.S. has been heavily involved in peace talks after conducting military operations, while Israel has taken a back seat in the negotiation process as its military targets Iran-linked terrorist networks.
Trump has often been at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the president denied that he was frustrated by his Israeli counterpart. Trump described their relationship as “great” and “effective,” though he doesn’t agree with every military action Israel takes.
“I didn’t like that he did an attack [over] a very minor little thing with some drones,” Trump said. “I saw that attack, I saw where that bomb went. That was a vicious … that was too much.”
“Without the United States, there would be no Israel,” he added. “Without me, there would be no Israel — because no other president was willing to do what I did. I had a great relationship with Bibi, but now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.”