The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated this Friday that Israel will stop its military operations against Lebanon because, as he stressed, the Hebrew country "does what it says" and maintained that, without Washington's support, Israel would have been "annihilated".
"Yes, I can. They respect me a lot and they do what I tell them to do," he said about the Israeli authorities during an interview with the portal Axios when asked if he could "prevent" Israel from attacking its neighboring country.
The White House tenant insisted that "if it weren't for Donald Trump, Israel would have been annihilated," alluding to the United States' decision to unilaterally withdraw from the nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015.
"If I hadn't canceled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), remember that would have been a legal path to a nuclear weapon. But if I hadn't done that, and if I hadn't attacked their (Iran's) nuclear arsenal ten months ago with the B-2 bombers, Israel would not exist today," he defended, claiming his policy towards Tehran.
Trump also highlighted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has worked well" with him, although he pointed out that "'Bibi' will tell them: 'We are the ones who have the weapons, we are the ones who control everything, we are the ones who have the B-2 bombers,' etcetera."
In this regard, he reiterated that his relationship with the head of the Israeli government "is good," although he admitted that "we have to make him keep a little sanity." In previous days, he had already expressed himself in similar terms about Netanyahu, whom he said "is a good, good man, but sometimes he gets a little carried away by emotion."
"I told 'Bibi': 'You can be a little more delicate. You don't have to tear down a building every time someone from Hezbollah enters it,'" he declared at a press conference, alluding to the Israeli military response against the Lebanese Shiite group.
Meanwhile, the governments of Israel and Lebanon are holding talks on a possible pact that would include the withdrawal of Israeli troops. Both sides demand the disarmament of Hezbollah, which refuses to do so as long as the invasion of the country continues, while Iran demands Israel's withdrawal and the cessation of its offensives within the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States.
In this context, the US president himself, Donald Trump, has backed a "total ceasefire" on "all fronts, including in Lebanon", after the Israeli government distanced itself from the agreement and reiterated on several occasions that it does not consider itself bound by it.
Friday's attacks have left at least 49 dead and 97 injured in Lebanese territory, while the accumulated death toll from Israeli bombings in Lebanon within the framework of the Iran war already amounts to 3,980 dead and 12,001 injured.