US President Donald Trump made a rare public criticism of the military methods used by Israel in Lebanon to target Hezbollah fighters, saying that it is not necessary to bomb entire residential buildings to pursue the fighters.

Trump, who over the past few days expressed his dissatisfaction with the Israeli attacks on Beirut, which he said could have threatened his agreement with Iran, said that Israel has been fighting Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran, for “too long.”

Trump added, at the G7 summit in France yesterday, Tuesday: “A very large number of people were killed. You do not have to destroy an apartment building every time you look for someone, because there are a lot of people in those apartment buildings, and not all of them are from Hezbollah.”

His criticism comes at a time when tensions are escalating between him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he has remained a major political ally, despite the fluctuations that their relationship has witnessed over the years.

Tensions have been rising recently, with Israeli officials quietly expressing frustration with the deal the Republican president struck with Iran, while Trump grows increasingly impatient with Netanyahu over the Israeli raids on Beirut, which prompted Iran to launch attacks at a time when Trump was working to finalize a peace deal with Tehran.

Trump noted that he enjoys a “great relationship” with Netanyahu, but at the same time he said that he must be “more responsible” regarding Lebanon.

He added: “Without us, without the United States, there would be no Israel. And without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president would have been willing to do what I did.”

The two leaders have repeatedly disagreed over Israel’s refusal to curb its operations targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, where a cessation of hostilities is a key demand for Iran. Trump, like other US presidents, is not often critical of Israel’s military methods.

Shortly after he made these remarks, an official White House social media account, which typically posts clips of the president’s public statements, posted a video of these exact remarks.

The White House did not say why the account chose to publish these statements, but it said that the president has a strong relationship with Netanyahu, and that the Israeli army forces are “wonderful partners.”

A White House official said: “There is no greater friend of Israel and champion for peace than President Trump. Americans and our allies around the world are already safer thanks to the bold actions taken by the United States and Israel to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon.”

In a related context, a headline emerged about Washington’s refusal to inform Israel of the agreement with Iran for fear of its leaking.

There are no indications that Trump’s comments will turn into actual policy that forces Israel to reconsider its military methods in a way that ensures greater protection for civilians.

Israel faced sharp criticism from other countries, especially during its attack on the Gaza Strip, which the Ministry of Health said killed 73,000 people, most of them civilians.

Israel says it never targets non-combatants, and accuses armed groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, of using civilians as human shields.