US President Donald Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call over Israel's escalating military campaign in Lebanon, accusing him of undermining diplomatic efforts with Iran and pressing him to abandon plans for strikes on Beirut, Axios reported on Monday, citing two US officials and another source briefed on the conversation.
Trump accused Netanyahu of being ungrateful and urged him to rein in planned attacks on Beirut , the report said.
"You’re fu**ing crazy, you'd be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this," one US official with knowledge of the call told Axios .
A second source briefed on the call told Axios that Trump was angry and at one point shouted at Netanyahu: "What the fu** are you doing?"
Another US official told Axios that Trump was particularly concerned by the number of civilians killed in Lebanon and objected to Israeli tactics that involved destroying buildings to target individual Hezbollah commanders.
The reported confrontation came as Israel intensified its military offensive in Lebanon, expanding ground operations in the south and threatening attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs, despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to prevent a wider escalation.
Trump's anger was reportedly driven in part by concerns that Israel's actions could derail negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
Earlier on Monday, Iran threatened to abandon talks with the US over Israel's military campaign in Lebanon. US 'greenlit' expanded Israeli attacks on Lebanon The reported call is particularly notable because it came just one day after US officials appeared to signal support for expanded Israeli military action in Lebanon.
A US State Department spokesperson told The New Arab that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Netanyahu as part of efforts to secure an arrangement under which Hezbollah would halt attacks on Israel in exchange for Israel refraining from escalating in Beirut.
According to the spokesperson, Aoun sought to advance the proposal, but Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri rejected the sequencing and insisted that Israel halt its military operations first.
The spokesperson described Berri's response as "evasive and disappointing" and said Washington did not expect Israel to continue absorbing attacks, while accusing Iran of seeking to prolong the conflict through Hezbollah.
Israel has also been in recent days lobbying the US to grant permission to advance its attacks and launch massive strikes on south Lebanon, with a US official hinting that a green light could be coming, The Times of Israel reported on Monday.
"The Americans are showing greater openness, but there is still no final approval - at least for now," an Israeli official told Israeli Channel 12 , regarding a military operation that would see forced evacuations in Beirut.
Despite a ceasefire in effect since April, Israel has continued to bombard and displace civilians in Lebanon, while diplomatic talks continue in the background.
Since March 2, when hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel flared up again, at least 3,433 have been killed in Lebanon and an additional 10,395 others wounded.