Trump Calls Netanyahu With Blunt Message: Be 'Low-Key' On Lebanon As Iran Talks At Stake

Last Updated:April 10, 2026, 08:20 IST

Trump told Netanyahu he understood Israel's need to defend itself but said it should support the ceasefire by reducing the tempo of its attacks.

US President Donald Trump personally pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call to lower the intensity of Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, warning that the escalating strikes were threatening the fragile US-Iran ceasefire and Saturday’s planned peace talks in Islamabad.

The call, described by a US official to The Wall Street Journal as shorter than their usual exchanges, marked the first time the Trump administration had asked Israel to dial back its Lebanon operations. Trump told Netanyahu he understood Israel’s need to defend itself but said it should support the ceasefire by reducing the tempo of its attacks, the official said.

Read more: ‘No Ceasefire In Lebanon’: Netanyahu Vows To Strike Hezbollah ‘With Full Force’

This comes as Trump told NBC News on Lebanon conflict, “I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key."

100 Strikes, 300 Dead After Iran Ceasefire

The urgency of Trump’s intervention stemmed from a dramatic Israeli escalation as within hours of Trump announcing the US-Iran ceasefire, Israel launched roughly 100 nearly simultaneous strikes on Lebanon, killing more than 300 people according to the Lebanese health ministry and destroying residential buildings in neighbourhoods outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds.

The strikes drew immediate protests from Iran and ceasefire mediator Pakistan, both of which argued the Lebanon war constituted a truce violation. The White House worried Tehran could use the fighting as leverage to extract greater concessions ahead of Saturday’s talks or walk away from them entirely.

Read more: Ship Traffic Through Strait Of Hormuz Below 10% Of Normal Despite US-Iran Ceasefire

Netanyahu Asserts ‘No Ceasefire In Lebanon’

Netanyahu was unequivocal in public even as he accepted Trump’s private message as he said, “There is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We continue to strike Hezbollah with full force."

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had said the Israeli military planned to push to the Litani River, a strategic line roughly 20 miles from the Israeli border that Israel has long sought to establish as a buffer zone north of Hezbollah’s positions.

Direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are tentatively scheduled for next week and are expected to be mediated by the United States. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said a ceasefire remains the only viable solution and called for an immediate pause in Israeli strikes.

More than 1,800 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

News world Trump Calls Netanyahu With Blunt Message: Be 'Low-Key' On Lebanon As Iran Talks At Stake

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