President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Saturday.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

US President Donald Trump holds significant leverage over Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, a regional expert told CNN, as Washington prepares to host a second round of talks between the two nations.

“It’s only President Trump who could really exert pressure on his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu,” said Fawaz Gerges, a professor at the London School of Economics, pointing out that it was Trump who announced the ceasefire in a social media post.

Trump announced the “10-day ceasefire” last week, pausing hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, saying “Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer… Enough is enough.”

But Israeli strikes have continued since, killing civilians and a journalist in Lebanon. Hezbollah has also launched attacks on Israeli troops.

The truce is tied to a US-led framework that allows Israel to “preserve its right to take all necessary measures in self-defense” while calling on the Lebanese government to prevent Hezbollah “from carrying out attacks, operations or hostile activities against Israeli targets.”

Gerges questioned how Israel is interpreting its “right to self-defense.”

“Israel is using its right to self-defense, and its extent to include anyone, any citizen, any journalist who basically approaches the eyes in which Israel basically occupies in southern Lebanon,” he told CNN’s Rosemary Church.