Trump Says Netanyahu Could Use ‘Softer Touch’ in Lebanon

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem on June 15, 2026. (AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem on June 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Trump Says Netanyahu Could Use ‘Softer Touch’ in Lebanon

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem on June 15, 2026. (AFP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem on June 15, 2026. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could use a "softer touch" in Lebanon in comments ‌made at the ‌close of ‌a G7 ⁠summit in France.

Netanyahu ⁠and Trump have repeatedly clashed over Israel's refusal to constrain its pursuit of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, where a cessation ⁠of hostilities is a ‌key ‌Iranian demand.

"Netanyahu happens to be a ‌good man, gets a ‌little excited sometimes," Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

"We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I ‌say you can do a little softer touch, ⁠Bibi. ⁠You don't have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that's from Hezbollah."

Trump added that he agreed with the description of Israel as being "the very small partner" of the United States.



Fresh Syria Protests Call for Accountability for Assad-Era Loyalists

 A large Syrian flag flutters above Tishreen Park in Damascus, June 4, 2025. (AFP)
A large Syrian flag flutters above Tishreen Park in Damascus, June 4, 2025. (AFP)
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Fresh Syria Protests Call for Accountability for Assad-Era Loyalists

 A large Syrian flag flutters above Tishreen Park in Damascus, June 4, 2025. (AFP)
A large Syrian flag flutters above Tishreen Park in Damascus, June 4, 2025. (AFP)

Dozens of Syrians protested in Damascus overnight into Wednesday demanding accountability for supporters of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad, the latest such demonstrations in a country still recovering after years of civil war.

Syria's new authorities have repeatedly vowed to provide justice and accountability for Assad-era atrocities, and have regularly announced the arrest of former military and security figures, launching trials for some while warning against acts of "revenge".

Video footage posted on social media and confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor appeared to show dozens of people protesting in the capital's Mazzeh 86 neighborhood.

A protest also erupted in front of a nearby mosque before security forces restored order.

An AFP photographer saw a similar demonstration on Monday night on the outskirts of the capital.

"Assad's shabiha forced us to leave in green buses" for tented displacement camps in the country's north, said protester Abdel-Rahman al-Qadri, 38, a former opposition fighter.

He was referring to militiamen who helped crush dissent under Assad, and to evacuation deals imposed on some opposition-held areas during Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011 and ended with the longtime ruler's 2024 ouster.

"We deserve the houses they live in, we deserve the positions and public sector jobs," said Qadri, who is unemployed.

Neighborhoods considered strongholds of the former authorities in the major cities of Aleppo and Idlib have seen similar protests in recent days, with participants calling for so-called "regime remnants" and "shabiha" to be put on trial.

Local residents there said some protests have involved vandalism of private property, raising tensions and fears of vigilante justice.

On Monday, interior ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba said authorities were committed to bringing perpetrators of Assad-era crimes to justice through legal avenues, but "the state categorically rejects turning the demand for accountability into an act of revenge".

Last week, President Ahmed al-Sharaa warned that "it is important not to use transitional justice as a pretext for revenge".

Lawyer Aref al-Shaal said on social media that authorities were "caught between street pressure demanding accountability immediately, and efforts to control the issue and to fight the 'shabiha' through an established legal framework that prevents a slippage towards chaos".


Hezbollah Chief Says Lebanon-Israel Talks Should Be Limited to Mutual Security

 Smoke billows from southern Lebanon, as seen from Nabatieh, following Israeli strikes reported by local residents, in Lebanon, June 17, 2026. (Reuters).
Smoke billows from southern Lebanon, as seen from Nabatieh, following Israeli strikes reported by local residents, in Lebanon, June 17, 2026. (Reuters).
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Hezbollah Chief Says Lebanon-Israel Talks Should Be Limited to Mutual Security

 Smoke billows from southern Lebanon, as seen from Nabatieh, following Israeli strikes reported by local residents, in Lebanon, June 17, 2026. (Reuters).
Smoke billows from southern Lebanon, as seen from Nabatieh, following Israeli strikes reported by local residents, in Lebanon, June 17, 2026. (Reuters).

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Wednesday hailed an understanding reached between Tehran and Washington to end the regional war as a "great victory", calling it a "pivotal point" for Lebanon. 

Although the US-Iran deal to end the Middle East war has not been officially released, American and Iranian officials, as well as mediator Pakistan, have said it includes Lebanon. 

"We congratulate the Iranian people, the resistance and the countries and peoples of the region and the world who yearn for independence and freedom on this great victory," Qassem said in a televised address. 

He expressed thanks to Iran for "linking the Lebanese arena" to the deal and "forcing Israel to stop its aggression" on the country. 

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Tehran, sparking an Israeli military campaign including massive airstrikes and a ground invasion. 

While violence declined in Lebanon after the deal was announced on Monday, Israeli strikes on the south have killed at least five people since then. 

Under US pressure, Lebanon has been holding direct talks with Israel in Washington since April seeking to end the hostilities and separate the conflict from the wider regional war, but the Iran-US deal announcement has reshuffled the cards. 

Qassem urged Lebanon to take advantage of "this pivotal point following the agreement... to achieve the expulsion of Israel" from Lebanese territory. 

The leader of the Iran-backed group again urged Lebanese authorities to abandon direct negotiations, repeating the group's view that they simply amount to "concessions". 

A fifth round of talks is scheduled for next week. 

"The ceiling for the negotiations with the Israeli enemy is mutual security... and any proposal under the banner of disarmament will not pass, as this is an Israeli recipe for taking everything and wrecking the country," Qassem said. 

Hezbollah also rejects a Lebanese government decision to disarm the group, which was announced after a 2024 ceasefire that halted a previous round of hostilities between Israel and its fighters. 

Qassem urged Lebanese authorities not to "agree with Israel on its demands interfering in our internal affairs". 

"Everything linked to organizing our domestic situation, whether the issue of weapons or the economy, or the national security strategy or defense strategy... it all must be completely outside the negotiations. This we discuss internally," he said. 

"In any negotiation, the main demand must be Lebanon's sovereignty," he added. 


More Than 1,000 People Have Been Killed in Gaza During Ceasefire, Health Ministry Says

A boy sweeps through the rubble of a building that was destroyed following Israeli bombardment after an evacuation order, at the Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on June 12, 2026. (AFP)
A boy sweeps through the rubble of a building that was destroyed following Israeli bombardment after an evacuation order, at the Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on June 12, 2026. (AFP)
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More Than 1,000 People Have Been Killed in Gaza During Ceasefire, Health Ministry Says

A boy sweeps through the rubble of a building that was destroyed following Israeli bombardment after an evacuation order, at the Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on June 12, 2026. (AFP)
A boy sweeps through the rubble of a building that was destroyed following Israeli bombardment after an evacuation order, at the Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on June 12, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip have killed 1,005 Palestinians since a ceasefire was reached between Israel and the Hamas group last October, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The enclave has seen near-daily strikes, as well as shelling and gunfire along the boundary that divides Gaza into Israeli and Palestinian-controlled zones. The most recent deaths were recorded after a series of Israeli drone strikes in the past few days on towns and refugee camps in central Gaza and Gaza City.

Israel has said it is continuing to operate against Hamas and allied fighters in Gaza and has expanded the amount of territory it controls inside the strip.

In a statement Wednesday, the Israeli military said that it killed two fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in strikes over the weekend.

Gaza’s Health Ministry on Sunday said the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war had surpassed 73,000 in Gaza. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.