Israel has agreed to refrain from attacking Beirut in response to that US anger but has kept its troops in a large buffer zone in southern Lebanon, which would appear to violate the terms of the deal that the US reached with Iran, given that the agreement states that all military operations in Lebanon must cease.<\/p>\n
\t The deal signed by Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, aims to end a conflict that began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, calling for a cessation of fighting between the US, Iran and their allies on all fronts, including Lebanon. It also provides for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the launch of a 60-day negotiation period on broader issues, including Tehran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n Separately from the US-Iran deal, a US official announced a truce between Israel and Hezbollah on Friday that ostensibly began at 4 p.m. local time. Although Israeli and Hezbollah sources later confirmed the agreement to Reuters, both sides continued to exchange fire on Friday evening and Saturday, with each blaming the other for violating the terms.<\/p>\n In response to the continued IDF presence in Lebanon and attacks on Tehran\u2019s Hezbollah proxy, Iran announced on Saturday that it was once again closing the Strait of Hormuz, although as of Saturday evening the US had yet to publicly call on Israel to pull its forces out of Lebanon.<\/p>\n US officials were said to have privately made the request but were rebuffed, in what would be a direct contradiction to Trump\u2019s claim that Jerusalem does what he wants regarding Lebanon.<\/p>\n The US president was also asked by Axios about his relationship with Netanyahu, to which he responded that it was \u201cgood, but we have to keep him a little bit sane.\u201d<\/p>\n The relationship between the two leaders has appeared increasingly strained<\/a> ever since the US imposed a ceasefire on Israel amid the fighting with Iran in April, with Trump notably calling him \u201cfucking crazy\u201d and saying he has \u201cno fucking judgement,\u201d among other things. But he has also praised their relationship, calling it \u201cvery good\u201d and \u201cunbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, the US president once again appeared to attempt to calm tensions with the Israeli leader.<\/p>\n \u201cWe fought very well with Israel, and we\u2019ve had a great relationship with Israel,\u201d Trump said in remarks at the unveiling of a new Air Force One plane gifted to the United States by Qatar.<\/p>\n \t Reviewing the weeks of fighting against Iran, Trump touted Washington\u2019s Gulf allies for \u201cfighting with us,\u201d as well as \u201cwarrior prime minister Netanyahu.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey should give him credit,\u201d he said of Netanyahu. \u201cWe really fought hard with Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n But just a day later, he shared an article on his Truth Social account headlined, \u201cTrump holds the cards in Netanyahu\u2019s shaky reelection chances.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t provide any additional commentary but appeared to enjoy the article\u2019s conclusion that he is the one who controls Netanyahu\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n Indeed, on Thursday, Trump told Israel\u2019s Kan public broadcaster that while he will \u201cmost likely\u201d endorse Netanyahu in the Israeli elections later this year, he wants to see who else is running against him first.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll have to look at who\u2019s running, but I like Bibi very much,\u201d he said. \u201cI would be most likely to endorse him.\u201d<\/p>\n Netanyahu\u2019s most formidable opponents at the moment appear to be former IDF chief of staff and Yashar party chief Gadi Eisenkot and former prime minister and Together party chief Naftali Bennett.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s remarks came after an Israeli news report earlier this week alleged Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party had shelved a planned election campaign highlighting the premier\u2019s ties to Trump as it was determined that it would do him no favors amid domestic fallout over the US-Iran deal.<\/p>\n And indeed, a poll published by Channel 12 on Thursday found that just 13% of Israelis trust Trump to look out for the interests of the Jewish state, while 71% said they did not believe he would. The poll also found that 52% of people believe Netanyahu\u2019s conduct harmed Israeli interests in the US-Iran agreement, while 24% felt it helped and 24% said they didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tRescue workers and people search for any people under the rubble of a destroyed building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Qannarit village, southern Lebanon, on June 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mohammed Zaatari)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AFP__20260619__2282397304__v1__HighRes__PresidentTrumpDepartsDCForCampDavidForTheWee-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump delivers remarks after touring the newest aircraft in the presidential fleet on June 19, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland (ALEX WONG\/Getty Images via AFP)<\/p>\n
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