President Donald Trump publicly chided Israel on Sunday over a morning airstrike on Beirut, warning that the attack threatened to derail the Iran peace deal he is trying to sign on his 80th birthday.
"This morning's attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post at 10:46 a.m. Eastern.
While allowing that "Israel has the right to defend itself against threats," Trump played down the provocation Israel said it was answering, calling it "very small and meaningless" and noting that "nobody was hurt, injured, or killed." The strike, he wrote, "should not disrupt this important process."
He then urged all sides to back off. "We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down," Trump wrote. "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."
Trump closed on a familiar mix of optimism and warning: "This could be the beginning of a long and beautiful peace — Let's not blow it!"
The post came hours after the Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah "infrastructure" in Beirut's southern suburbs — and on the same day Trump has insisted a U.S.-Iran agreement to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be signed. Iranian officials have been more cautious about the timing, and warned that the Beirut strike would not go unanswered.