WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin withdrawing Israeli forces from parts of Syria and Lebanon, according to a report by Axios on Tuesday, citing US and Israeli officials.
The request came during a phone call last Thursday, during which Trump reportedly warned that Israel's military presence in southern Syria risked increasing tensions and could trigger further escalation, Axios said.
According to the report, Trump told Netanyahu that Israel should redeploy its forces from Syrian territory because “they don't want you there,” and made a similar appeal regarding Lebanon.
Netanyahu, however, argued that Israel needed to maintain security zones along its borders, his office said.
The reported conversation took place a day after Trump met Syria's interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey.
The Trump administration has spent months trying to broker a new security arrangement between Israel and Syria that would have included a gradual Israeli withdrawal from territory seized after the collapse of Bashar Assad's government in December 2024. US officials quoted by Axios said those efforts stalled because Netanyahu was unwilling to make the proposed concessions.
The issue also comes as Washington seeks to advance a separate security framework between Israel and Lebanon. Under an agreement discussed by US mediators in Rome this week, Israel committed to withdraw from two areas in southern Lebanon to allow the Lebanese army to deploy.
Lebanon has called for a timetable for further Israeli withdrawals, while Israeli officials say any redeployment will depend on verifying that the areas are free of Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure.
The White House declined to comment on the report but did not deny the account of the call.
* With Reuters
