US President Donald Trump has said Israel must act more responsibly in its war against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
"I'm not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon, and with Hezbollah, they should have been able to do the job faster," Trump said at a meeting with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit in the French city of Évian on Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon," Trump said.
Israel had been fighting Hezbollah for "too long" and "too many people are being killed," Trump said of the conflict, in which around 3,800 people have been killed and about 11,700 others wounded in Lebanon.
"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 they're not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you," Trump said, referring to Israeli strikes.
The Lebanon war is considered one of the biggest obstacles to the framework agreement in the Iran war. Iran - Hezbollah's main backer - has said that new Israeli strikes on Lebanon and further occupation of territory would be regarded as a violation of the agreement.
Israel has said it does not intend to withdraw its ground forces from occupied territory in the neighbouring country for now, with the stated aim of protecting its own population in northern Israel from further attacks by the militia.
At the same time, Trump described the conflict in Lebanon as a "minor war" compared to the "big" war with Iran.
"But we have that little pinprick out there that constantly rears its head, and it's Hezbollah," Trump said.
Trump described his relationship with Netanyahu as "unbelievable."
Israel would have been "blown up" long ago without him, Trump said, referring to Israel's long conflict with its arch-enemy Iran.
"Without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel," Trump said.
Trump again raised the possibility of Syria's involvement in the war in neighbouring Lebanon, an idea from which Syria's transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa has already distanced himself.
"If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, [al-Sharaa will] do the job. Syria will do the job," Trump said.
