Netanyahu Faces Opposition Criticism Over Trump’s Lebanon Ceasefire After 46 Days Of War

Le Monde.fr says a Lebanon ceasefire announced on Thursday, April 16 by U.S. President Donald Trump is criticized by Israel’s opposition as “not good news for Israel,” after “forty-six days of war.”

“Benjamin Netanyahu accepted an invitation from U”

BFM

The same article reports that Trump’s order on his Truth Social network on Friday said, “Israel will not bomb Lebanon. They are prohibited from doing so by the United States. That's enough!!!”

BFM

Euronews reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a Thursday evening speech at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem, said the Israeli army currently controls 60% of the Gaza Strip, surpassing the limits of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas brokered by the United States.

Euronews adds that Haaretz said the 60% figure exceeds what was stipulated in the ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025, which set the army’s control at about 53% of the Strip.

Euronews also quotes GIS expert Lori Boive of Doctors Without Borders saying the organization’s assessment indicates Israeli control rose from about 53% in October to between 57% and 58% currently.

Haaretz reports that U.S. President Donald Trump cursed and shouted at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call in September last year amid negotiations over a U.S.-brokered Gaza cease-fire deal.

Haaretz says Trump told Netanyahu, “everybody's sick of you, Bibi,” according to a new book by New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.

Euronews

The Haaretz account says the book describes a tense call during the UN General Assembly period in which Trump, speaking with Netanyahu, Jared Kushner and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, pushed the Israeli leader to accept what later became a 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza.

Haaretz also reports that the confrontation came after weeks of friction, including anger in the White House over an Israeli strike in Doha targeting Hamas leaders, which reportedly derailed coordination with Qatar.

The same Haaretz article says the book reports that Trump ultimately forced the plan forward in the call, warning Netanyahu that he could not withdraw from the agreement and insisting the proposal was “a great deal for Israel.”

BFM reports that Benjamin Netanyahu accepted an invitation from U.S. President Donald Trump to sit on his “Peace Council,” with Netanyahu’s office saying the prime minister “has accepted the invitation ... to join, as a member, the Peace Council.”

BFM says the Peace Council had originally been designed to oversee the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, “ravaged by more than two years of fighting,” between Israel and Hamas, but that the charter proposal grants Trump broad powers to help resolve armed conflicts around the world.

Euronews frames the Gaza control expansion as a breach of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, saying the Israeli army widened the area under its control inside the Gaza Strip known as the “yellow line.”

Euronews adds that the plan announced by President Trump on September 29, 2025 to end the war included a first phase with a ceasefire, a partial Israeli withdrawal, the release of prisoners, and the entry of 600 aid trucks daily.

In the same Euronews account, Hamas leader Bassam Naeem tells Anadolu that Israel pushed the yellow line toward western areas by an additional area estimated at about 8–9%, raising the total area under army control to more than 60% of the Strip.