How will Donald Trump approach Israel's wars on Lebanon and Gaza?

Donald Trump is returning to the White House with a vow to end foreign wars.

In the Middle East, he faces two blistering conflicts, one in Gaza and one in Lebanon - which will test that pledge?

Trump pitched himself to American voters as a strong leader and dealmaker. When asked about Israel’s war in Gaza, he said he wanted to "get it over with and let’s get back to peace and stop killing people". 

In Gaza, Israel is waging a bloody offensive that it launched after the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel. Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel the next day, in what it said was in solidarity with Palestinians. Israel responded with a devastating bombing campaign and ground invasion that has so far killed over 43,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and 3,000 Lebanese.

The fighting in Lebanon has snowballed into a sort of regional battle to realign the balance of power in the Middle East, with Israel and the US on one side and Iran and its so-called "axis of resistance" on the other.

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