Trump Says Lebanon War Is 'Over,' Tells Israel to Stand Down

U.S. President Donald Trump posted yesterday (Friday) on his social network, Truth Social, announcing that the war in Lebanon is over. Trump wrote: "The agreement with Iran is not contingent on the situation in Lebanon, but the U.S., separately, will work with Lebanon and handle the situation with Hezbollah appropriately. Israel will no longer bomb Lebanon. The U.S. forbids it from doing so. Enough is enough!!!". Trump noted that he will invite Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a talk in Washington.

In Israel, Trump's hard-edged post took officials by surprise. An Israeli official said, "The likelihood now of returning to fighting with Iran is lower than the likelihood that an agreement will be reached, and Trump's message is that we won't return to fighting in Lebanon either". Trump's announcement contradicts his statement earlier this week, on the day he announced a cease-fire. In that message, the American president said that "Israel reserves for itself the right to take all measures necessary for self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks".

It should be noted that before Shabbat began, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a recorded statement in which he said: "At the request of my friend President Trump, with whom we changed the Middle East and achieved tremendous gains, we agreed to a temporary cease-fire in Lebanon. At his request, we will give an opportunity to advance a combined diplomatic and military solution with the government of Lebanon".

Netanyahu emphasized that "Dismantling Hezbollah will not be achieved tomorrow. It requires sustained effort, patience, and perseverance, and it requires prudent navigation in the diplomatic arena. Today's Hezbollah is a shadow of itself compared to Nasrallah's glory days. But I say honestly: we have not yet finished the job. There are things we are planning to do against the remaining rocket threat and against the drone threat, and I will not elaborate".

Lebanon's President: "We will no longer be anyone's bargaining chip"

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun issued a statement saying: "The cease-fire is the fruit of brave and intensive work by all those responsible in Lebanon and our colleagues both in Lebanon and around the world. We have endured and heard much about how we are not taking the correct stance and the truth was distorted, but today everyone understands that we and what we did are the right and just thing that needed to be done. I address all who supported and pushed for the cease-fire, including—first and foremost—my friend Donald Trump, along with our partners from the Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia".

"We stand before a new stage and a new period, moving from the work to achieve a cease-fire to a new period focused on permanent agreements that will guarantee the rights of our people. From now on we are negotiating on our own behalf, deciding for ourselves for good; we chose to return Lebanon to our own hands. Negotiation is not weakness or a retreat from our positions, nor this or that concession, but the implementation of a decision that stems from a position of strength, belief in our rights, and the protection of our people"

Finally, Aoun said, in a kind of message to Hezbollah and Iran: "Between distortions and destructive slogans and measured, constructive steps, my people and I choose to act prudently. I bear full responsibility for these choices that secure the fate of my people. I turn and say to all those operators who are taking all of us on adventures and endangering Lebanon's future—enough!".

A senior Hezbollah official, Nawaf al-Moussawi, who is responsible for the resources and borders portfolio in the terror organization, responded to Aoun's words: "If the president of Lebanon yields to Trump and meets with Netanyahu—he will lose his status as president of the state. Who said the Sunni majority will agree to sign a peace agreement with Israel? Iran created the cease-fire in Lebanon. Not a single Israeli soldier will remain in the south".

"The president of Lebanon thanked the murderer (Trump), but did not thank the one who saved us—Iran. We affirm that there is no way back to the situation before March 2. The finger of the resistance will remain on the trigger. Strategic patience has run out. We will not be satisfied with a cease-fire and we will not return to the way things were, no matter the price we pay".