US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged all sides to exercise restraint after Israel carried out an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs, warning that further escalation could jeopardise efforts to secure a broader peace deal in the region.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the attack on Beirut “should not have happened,” particularly at a time when negotiators were “so close to a Peace Deal with Iran.”
“Israel has the right to defend itself against threats, but the attack it was responding to was very small and meaningless,” Trump wrote, claiming nobody had been hurt, injured or killed in the incident that triggered Israel’s response.
The US President said all parties should step back from further military action.
“There should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah, against Israel,” he said.
Calling the current moment a potential turning point, Trump added: “This could be the beginning of a long and beautiful peace, let’s not blow it.”
His remarks came hours after the Israeli military struck a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, an area widely regarded as a stronghold of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The Israeli Air Force released dramatic footage showing the exact moment the building was hit. The video captured a powerful explosion engulfing the structure in thick plumes of smoke following what Israel described as a precision strike.
According to the Israeli military, the target functioned as a Hezbollah headquarters.
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that the strike hit an apartment in Beirut’s Ghobeiry neighbourhood within the Dahiyeh district, a densely populated southern suburb known for Hezbollah’s presence.
The strike comes amid heightened tensions across the region, even as diplomatic efforts continue to prevent a wider conflict involving Israel, Lebanon and Iran. Trump’s comments are likely to add pressure on all sides to avoid further escalation as negotiations continue behind the scenes.
Israel and Hezbollah have been locked in conflict since March 2, when the Iran-backed group fired rockets into Israel, saying it was in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in earlier US-Israeli strikes.
