Trump's remarks on Israel-Lebanon bombing surprise Netanyahu

On April 18, 2026, Axios wrote that a post by Trump banning Israel from bombing Lebanon caught Netanyahu off guard, and the Jerusalem Post wrote that Israel was shocked that Trump 'prohibited' strikes on Lebanon. A ceasefire in Lebanon entered into force, and Israel accused Hezbollah of violating it, while Hezbollah said it would respond to Israeli violations of the truce. A US envoy said in Antalya that 'kinetic elimination does not work'.

Macron said Hezbollah was responsible for an attack that killed a French UNIFIL soldier in Lebanon, and UNIFIL also blamed Hezbollah. The UN chief, the UN, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt condemned the attack on the peacekeepers.