'It's gone on for far too long': Trump slams Israel's attacks on Lebanon and says 'Syria could do a better job'
The President criticised Israel for killing too many civilians in Lebanon
Donald Trump has criticised Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon as he claimed Syria would do a "better job of taking out Hezbollah".
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The President made the remarks amid Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon despite a cessation of fighting in Iran following the announcement of a preliminary peace deal on Monday.
Speaking at the G7 summit in France on Tuesday, Trump said the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon, had gone on for too long and too many civilians had been killed.
He continued: "You don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses and not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you."
The President continued that Syria would do a "better job" at taking out Hezbollah.
Read more: US-Iran deal promises end to war but how it will work remains unclear
He said:“I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah. Because to be honest with you, I think they’d do a better job.”
Syria has a long and complicated relationship with Lebanon, with Syrian troops maintaining a military occupation in the country between the 1970s until 2005.
Trump said he "didn’t like' that Isarel attacked the Lebanon capital Beirut "two hours" before the deal with Iran was signed.
"If Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone else he'll do the job, Syria will do the job," he said, referring to the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa with whom Trump has a good relationship.
The peace deal signed on Monday, which is yet to be made public, would extend a tenuous ceasefire announced in April by another 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February.
Negotiators would address difficult issues like the future of Iran's nuclear programme during the next phase of talks to be held during the 60-day window.
The fighting between US ally Israel and the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, which has uprooted 1.2 million people, remains a key sticking point.
Iran has said the deal requires a full cessation of hostilities there, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would keep its forces in southern Lebanon and would retain the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.
"Iran wanted us to withdraw from it, but I stood firm," he said at a news conference, where he acknowledged that he and Trump have had their differences over the conflict.
On Tuesday Iran's Foreign Minister said Israel's continued occupation of Southern Lebanon would violate the terms of the deal.
Abbas Araghchi said the continued presence of Israeli forces in the country meant the "war has not fully come to an end".
A US official said an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, which it invaded in March after Hezbollah joined the war, was not a condition of the deal.