Israel’s Beirut Strike Deepens Rift as Trump Races to Salvage Iran Deal

Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s Dahieh district on Sunday afternoon, in a move said to have been ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz despite warnings from senior IDF officials. Those officials reportedly urged delaying the attack by a day or two, hoping a U.S.-Iran agreement might be signed first, or that Netanyahu and Katz would cool off.

The strike came after Israel said it was responding to two previous incidents on the Lebanon border in which Israelis were hurt by rocket fire and drones. But inside the decision-making circle, some viewed the operation as more than a limited response. According to people familiar with the discussions, it was seen either as a bid to show Israeli resolve or as an attempt to set a political-military trap for the emerging deal. The military warning was that even a limited strike in Dahieh could trigger Iranian ballistic missile fire and force Israel into a larger escalation. There was no real coordination with Washington, only a notification to the U.S. military minutes before the attack.

Amid sharp domestic criticism over Netanyahu’s ability to shape U.S. policy, one source said he was “frightened by the criticism” and ordered the public messaging to stress a separation between Iran and Lebanon. Another source described the purpose more bluntly as “a strike against the agreement.” After the attack, Israeli officials expected Iran to respond in the afternoon or evening and prepared for both defense and possible retaliatory strikes on Iranian military and infrastructure sites.

Instead, according to two sources, Tehran paused preparations for a missile launch after mediators said it wanted to give President Donald Trump’s intense effort to calm the crisis a chance to secure the deal that same day. One source said, “This is an enormous effort by Trump to persuade Iran not to fire.” Trump also warned Iran it would be blamed if it attacked, while considering concessions to keep the talks alive. The result, one security source said, was the opposite of what Netanyahu may have wanted, the deal got a major push, Trump tightened pressure on both sides, and Netanyahu was publicly embarrassed. The episode underscored the deep gap between Jerusalem and Washington: Netanyahu sees the American-Iranian deal as dangerous, while Trump views it as a major achievement and is determined to close it.