Trump: 'US must keep Netanyahu somewhat sane in Lebanon'

US President Donald Trump has said Washington needs to keep Israeli Authority Head Benjamin Netanyahu ‘somewhat sane’ in his handling of the situation in Lebanon. Although describing his relationship with Netanyahu as ‘good’, Trump claimed in an excerpt of an interview with Axios published on Friday that he can control Israel’s military actions in Lebanon because officials there ‘do what Trump says’. Trump emphasised America’s military superiority, noting that Washington provides ‘weapons’ and B-2 stealth bombers to Israel. He also claimed that without his intervention, Israel would be ‘destroyed’, repeating his statement earlier this week that ‘without the United States, there would be no Israel’. Earlier this week, Trump revealed that he had advised Netanyahu to take a ‘softer’ approach in Lebanon. According to him, Israel does not need to ‘bring down a building every time someone from Hezbollah enters it’, referring to Israeli airstrikes that frequently target areas in Lebanon, including residential neighbourhoods. The agreement was reached after an escalation of the conflict that killed 47 people in southern Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers since early Friday. According to official data, Israeli military operations in Lebanon since 2 March have killed 3,912 people, wounded 11,873 others, and forced more than one million residents to flee. Israel continues to occupy several areas in southern Lebanon, some of which have been occupied for decades and others since the outbreak of the latest conflict. In recent military operations, Israeli forces have reportedly advanced more than 10 kilometres into Lebanese territory.