Report: US stunned by scale of Israel’s strikes in Lebanon; not what Trump had envisioned

US officials are reportedly stunned by the scale of Israel’s strikes in Lebanon yesterday, which reportedly hit hospitals and caused heavy civilian casualties, with senior American officials saying the outcome was not what US President Donald Trump had in mind when he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Lebanon was not included in the two-week ceasefire deal with Iran, according to Channel 12.

The report says US special envoy Steve Witkoff called Netanyahu yesterday to urge him to scale down operations in Lebanon, before asking Trump to reinforce the message in a follow-up call. The pressure is said to have helped push Israel to agree to diplomatic talks with Lebanon next week in Washington.

According to Channel 12, the American push is driven by concern that continued fighting in Lebanon could torpedo ongoing negotiations with Iran, with Tehran already threatening to skip planned talks in Pakistan on Saturday in light of yesterday’s strikes.

Despite agreeing to talks with the Lebanese government, Israel has indicated it will not halt military operations, as dozens of rockets continued to be fired at northern communities in the past two days.

European nations, including Germany, Austria, France, the United Kingdom and Italy, also slammed Israel over its strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, adding to mounting international pressure.

According to the report, there is a growing belief that Washington will ultimately steer Israel toward confronting Hezbollah through economic and diplomatic means, rather than sustained military escalation.