President Urges Israel to Halt Energy Strikes as Middle East Crisis Worsens

President Trump has instructed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop targeting Iranian energy facilities after retaliatory strikes sent global fuel prices soaring. The escalating conflict has damaged critical energy infrastructure across the Middle East, including facilities that process a fifth of the world's natural gas.

President Donald Trump has directed Israeli leadership to cease attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure as retaliatory strikes between the nations have caused global fuel costs to surge dramatically, intensifying the ongoing Middle East conflict.

The president’s directive followed Thursday’s sharp increase in energy markets after Iran retaliated against an Israeli assault on a significant gas facility by targeting Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City. This facility handles approximately 20% of global liquefied natural gas production, and the resulting damage will require several years to fully repair.

Iranian forces also struck Saudi Arabia’s primary Red Sea port facility, which the kingdom has been using to reroute exports around Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical Gulf shipping passage.

These attacks highlighted Iran’s ongoing capacity to inflict significant economic damage during the U.S.-Israeli military campaign and exposed vulnerabilities in air defense systems protecting the region’s most crucial energy assets.

Facing political pressure from rising fuel costs among his voter base before November’s midterm elections, Trump has criticized allies who have shown reluctance to assist in securing the Strait of Hormuz, which handles roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments.

However, the president confirmed he had instructed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid future energy infrastructure attacks.

“I told him, ‘Don’t do that’, and he won’t do that,” Trump stated to reporters during a Thursday Oval Office session.

Sources familiar with military planning, including one U.S. official and three others with knowledge of the discussions, revealed to Reuters that Trump is weighing the deployment of additional thousands of American forces to the Middle East as the conflict, which has claimed over 2,000 lives, continues.

Despite these reports, Trump denied any plans for ground force deployment on Thursday. “I’m not putting troops anywhere,” he declared.

Netanyahu subsequently acknowledged Thursday that Israel conducted the South Pars gas field bombing independently and verified that Trump had requested Israel refrain from similar operations.

The Israeli leader claimed Iran has been “decimated” and lost its uranium enrichment and ballistic missile manufacturing capabilities after 20 days of coordinated U.S.-Israeli airstrikes. However, he noted that regime change would require a “ground component” beyond aerial operations, though he provided no additional details.

During Netanyahu’s remarks, Iranian forces launched another missile barrage toward Israel, according to statements from Israel’s military and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Nearly three weeks into the conflict with no resolution in sight, and growing concerns about a global “oil shock,” seven allied nations issued a joint declaration. Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan expressed “our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait.”

The allies also committed to “other steps to stabilise energy markets, including working with certain producing nations to increase output.”

However, immediate action appears unlikely. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized that any assistance in securing the strait would only occur after hostilities conclude.

Major U.S. allies’ reluctance to engage reflects skepticism about a conflict European leaders describe as having unclear objectives they neither sought nor can control.

Israel’s South Pars gas field attack, which Trump said occurred without U.S. knowledge, revealed coordination gaps between the primary participants regarding strategy and objectives.

Three Israeli officials created additional confusion by stating the operation occurred with U.S. consultation but would likely not be repeated.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard informed the House intelligence committee that American and Israeli objectives differ: “…the Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership. The president has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability, and their navy.”

Iran’s military declared that strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure had initiated “a new stage in the war” prompting attacks on U.S.-linked energy facilities.

“If strikes (on Iran’s energy facilities) happen again, further attacks on your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until it is completely destroyed,” Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaqari warned through state media.

QatarEnergy’s chief executive confirmed to Reuters that Iranian attacks eliminated one-sixth of Qatar’s LNG export capacity, representing $20 billion annually in lost revenue, with repairs requiring three to five years.

Israeli media reported Iranian strikes damaged oil facilities at Israel’s Haifa port without causing casualties.

Since Wednesday, Iranian attacks have forced the UAE to close its Habshan gas facility and ignited fires at two Kuwaiti oil refineries.