The Israeli military said Sunday that it had struck a Hezbollah target on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, an escalation that threatened to imperil U.S. peace talks with Iran and drew the ire of President Trump.
Hours after the attack, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that the strikes “should not have happened” and urged Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militia, to exercise restraint.
The violence in Lebanon on Sunday complicated an already delicate moment as Mr. Trump and Iran appeared to be edging toward signing a framework peace agreement. It also underscored how the conflict in Lebanon has become a sticking point in those talks.
Iran has insisted that any agreement with the United States extend to the conflict in Lebanon. Fighting there erupted after Hezbollah fired at Israel in solidarity with Tehran soon after the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February.
But any deal that includes Lebanon would depend on both the United States being able to compel Israel to wind down its military campaign there and Iran’s cooperation in restraining its proxy, Hezbollah.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are part of the ongoing negotiations.
That thorny dynamic was on full display on Sunday, with the Israeli strikes threatening to create a broader flare-up if Iran decided to take retaliatory action against Israel, as it did a week ago under similar circumstances.
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