President Donald Trump urged Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu during a phone conversation Thursday to begin withdrawing Israeli troops from Syria and encouraged a similar move in Lebanon, according to U.S. and Israeli officials cited by Axios.

The reported request comes as Israeli forces continue operating in portions of southern Syria and southern Lebanon. Israeli leaders have maintained that the deployments are essential to prevent future cross-border attacks like the October 7 massacre.

According to Axios, one U.S. official said Trump expressed concern that Israel’s continued military presence inside Syrian territory was fueling regional tensions and increasing the risk of a broader conflict. The official said Trump told Netanyahu, “They don’t want you there. You should redeploy,” adding that the president conveyed the same message regarding Lebanon.

The Prime Minister’s Office said that during the discussion, Netanyahu emphasized Israel’s need to maintain security zones along its borders to safeguard the country from future threats.

The conversation came one day after Trump met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey. According to U.S. officials, the administration has been working to establish a new security framework between Israel and Syria that would eventually include a phased Israeli withdrawal from territory captured following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024.

In southern Syria, recent weeks have seen growing unrest, including demonstrations by local residents opposing the Israeli military presence as well as confrontations between protesters and Israeli forces.

At the same time, American mediators met Tuesday in Rome with Israeli and Lebanese officials to advance implementation of an agreement between the two countries. Under the proposed framework, Israel agreed to withdraw from two designated “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese Armed Forces to move into those areas.

Israeli troops have not yet pulled out of the designated zones. Lebanese officials have pressed for the withdrawal process to begin and have requested a schedule for additional redeployments. Israeli officials, however, have said they intend to verify that Hezbollah has removed its weapons and military infrastructure from the areas before proceeding.

The White House declined to comment on the Axios report and did not dispute its account. A U.S. official told Axios that Trump “has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu” and emphasized that Israel “has always been a great ally to the United States.”