Smoke rises from Syria's Ministry of Defense building at Umayyad Square after Israeli warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes in Damascus, Syria on July 16, 2025. Photo: VCG

US media, citing government officials, have recently voiced growing concerns over Israel's relentless and increasingly unrestrained military operations in the Middle East, which are straining the patience of the US administration and casting doubt on the future of US-Israel ties. A Chinese expert cautioned that Israel's aggressive approach, repeatedly entangling the US in regional conflicts, is turning it into a liability for the US' Middle East strategy.

Citing six US officials, the Axios reported on Sunday (local time) that despite a US-brokered cease-fire that halted this week's escalation in Syria on Friday, this week ended with "the White House significantly more alarmed about Netanyahu [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and his regional policies."

Following the fierce clash with Iran and amid the bloodshed in Gaza, Israel on Wednesday launched airstrikes in Syria's capital Damascus and hit the interim government's forces in Syria's southern province Sweida, demanding the withdrawal of the Syrian army, under the pretext of of protecting Syrian Druze. 

One White House official told the Axios that "Bibi (Netanyahu's nickname) acted like a madman. He bombs everything all the time." "This could undermine what Trump is trying to do." 

Another US official said there's growing skepticism inside the Trump administration about Netanyahu — a sense that his trigger finger is too itchy and he's too disruptive. "Netanyahu is sometimes like a child who just won't behave," the official stated, according to the report. 

Furthermore, Axios reported that several senior US officials directly complained to Trump about Netanyahu. The report quoted an American official as saying that this included US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, both of whom are close friends of US President Donald Trump.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday that from Gaza, Iran to Syria, the Israeli government has repeatedly tested US patience, with protecting Israel and Jewish interests on the surface, while coercion and blackmail Washington in the favor of Israeli geopolitical gains in the essence. 

For the US, pressing concerns abound, and in this view, many geopolitical issues take precedence over Israel's efforts to strengthen its regional influence, said the expert, noting that the White House is wary of being drawn into the Middle East's protracted conflicts by Israel, as a broadly balanced and stable region better aligns with Washington's current interests. 

Tammy Bruce, a spokesperson of US State Department, said on Thursday that the US does not support recent Israeli airstrikes on Syria and called for "dialogue." "I think we've been very clear about our displeasure, certainly that the president has, and we've worked very quickly to have it stopped," Bruce said, according to Reuters. 

However, Netanyahu appears resistant to such stability, as any steps toward peace, if available, would likely undermine his domestic political position, Lü said, noting that the Israeli prime minister is currently being regarded by some analysts as relying on military conflicts to bolster power and avoid accountability from the judiciary.

The expert believed that the US-Israel relations now stand at a crossroads. 

"Trump aides have become more and more aware in recent months of the influence far-right Jewish supremacist elements in Netanyahu's coalition have on policy," the Axios report said. US officials who spoke to the media were cautioned that "Netanyahu's luck, and Trump's goodwill, could run out."

If Israel continues on its current trajectory, it risks becoming a growing burden and liability for the US in the Middle East, potentially leading to dramatic and unforeseen developments, Lü said. 

According to a BBC report on Monday, the Israeli military has killed at least 67 people waiting for UN aid lorries in northern Gaza, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says. The UN's World Food Programme condemned violence against civilians seeking aid as "completely unacceptable."

Pope Leo XIV slammed the "barbarity" of the war in Gaza on Sunday and urged against the "indiscriminate use of force," days after the Strip's only Catholic church was damaged by the Israel Defense Forces, which has said it was accidental, The Times of Israel reported.