Israeli Ministers Lash Out at Trump Over His Criticism of Strikes in Lebanon

Israeli cabinet ministers attacked U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday after he publicly criticized Israel’s strikes and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judgment. They said Trump was effectively “normalizing fire at a sovereign state,” according to a report by i24NEWS.

The remarks came as the security cabinet met at a secret location amid preparations for possible fire from Iran and efforts to advance a regional agreement. Ministers were quoted as saying the attempt to separate the Iranian front from the Lebanese front had failed, and that the two theaters must now be seen as directly linked.

Inside the cabinet discussion, some ministers also demanded a tougher Israeli response policy. They argued that “the era of restraint is over” and that any fire toward Israel should be answered with retaliation.

Trump had written earlier on Sunday, after Israel struck Beirut’s Dahieh district, that the attack “should not have happened,” especially on what he called a special day when the sides were close to a peace deal with Iran. On Truth Social, he said Israel had the right to defend itself, but that the attack it was responding to was “very small and did not cause much damage,” with no one killed or injured. He said the goal was a deal that could bring peace to the region, including Lebanon, and urged all sides to show restraint.

In a Fox News interview, Trump said he expected the agreement to be signed within two or three hours, or overnight, and said he had called Netanyahu and asked him, “What the hell are you doing?!”