Trump Intervenes to Stop an Iranian Retaliation After Beirut Strike

A strike in Beirut’s Dahieh district yesterday triggered a 12-hour crisis with Washington, after Israel attacked despite warnings from senior IDF and security officials. Ynet’s Ronen Bergman reported on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the targeted airstrike even though the timing was especially volatile, with the United States and Iran reportedly close to signing a broad deal through Qatari mediation.

According to the report, the military urged delaying the operation by two days to avoid escalation, but the political leadership went ahead and informed the Americans only minutes before the bombing, without prior consultation. The decision came after Netanyahu faced sharp criticism over the weekend from right-wing circles and pro-Netanyahu commentators who said he had lost influence over Donald Trump and failed to derail the emerging agreement with Tehran.

Sources cited in the report said Netanyahu wanted to show resolve and separate the Lebanese arena from the Iranian one. More hardline figures said the real aim was to sabotage the talks by provoking an Iranian response that would trigger a broader chain reaction and collapse the negotiations. Israeli defense systems were placed on high alert, expecting an Iranian ballistic missile barrage later in the evening, and the IDF prepared both defenses and retaliatory plans against targets inside Iran.

In Washington, Trump moved urgently through Qatari intermediaries to prevent the escalation. The report says he applied heavy pressure on Tehran, mixing threats and assigning full blame to Iran if it struck, with incentives including additional economic concessions and a faster timetable for easing pressure on Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian launch plans were reportedly delayed repeatedly, and Tehran later told mediators it was postponing the military parade so Trump could finalize the deal that day. The strike ultimately strengthened Trump’s push for a swift agreement, left Netanyahu embarrassed, and exposed the widening rift between Jerusalem and Washington over the Iran deal.