Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will continue to hold wars against Lebanon's Hezbollah, despite calls from the United States, France and other allies for an immediate three-week cease-fire aimed at halting the escalation of the conflict that has begun to engulf Lebanon. He said he would “not stop” the attacks.
Israeli airstrikes continued in Lebanon on Thursday, killing 92 people, including Hezbollah drone commander Mohammad Surour, and at least 150 rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, the Israeli military said. A bullet was fired.
The Israeli prime minister told reporters upon arriving in New York, where he is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, that his government's policy is clear.
“We continue to attack Hezbollah with all our might and will not stop until we achieve all our goals, not least of which is the safe return of the people of the north to their homes,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister's office had earlier distanced the Israeli government from the cease-fire plan, calling it a “proposal from the United States and France that the prime minister has not even responded to.”
The prime minister's office said that Netanyahu “commanded the IDF.” [Israel Defense Forces] Follow the plan presented and continue to fight with all your might. The fighting in Gaza will continue until all war objectives are achieved. ”
These war goals include the safe return of more than 60,000 Israelis forced to abandon their homes in northern Israel due to Hezbollah bombing that began on October 8 last year, the day after the start of the war in Gaza.
U.S. officials hope to convince Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire offer before he speaks to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. They said a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could also provide breathing space to revive long-stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for a Gaza ceasefire. claims.
The United States, France and some allies on Wednesday called for an urgent cessation of hostilities, saying this posed an “unacceptable risk of broader regional escalation.”
“We call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanese-Israeli border to allow space for diplomacy,” the joint statement said. “We call on all parties, including Israel and the Lebanese government, to immediately recognize the temporary ceasefire.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would make a “mistake” in rejecting a ceasefire in Lebanon, warning that Lebanon could not become “a second Gaza.”
Hezbollah has not yet responded to calls for a ceasefire, but Hezbollah and its backer Iran have previously insisted they would only halt attacks if a ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip, but Israel's response has been overwhelmingly negative. It was spot on. After Netanyahu's remarks, the defense minister said he had met with the country's top commanders to discuss further military operations on Israel's northern front.
“We are continuing a series of operations to eliminate Hezbollah terrorists, dismantle Hezbollah attack infrastructure, and destroy rockets and missiles,” Yoav Galant said.
“We have additional tasks to complete to ensure the safe return of communities in northern Israel to their homelands. It's gonna be bad.''
U.S. officials have called on Israel to accept a ceasefire, saying it could lead to a negotiated withdrawal of Hezbollah forces from the border area, where they have been firing rockets and missiles at Israel. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has argued that diplomacy is the best way to create conditions for people to return to their homes.
“Going into all-out war is not the way to achieve that goal,” he told US television station MSNBC. “It's impossible for people to go back in those situations.”
But Western diplomats gathered in New York for the U.N. General Assembly said Netanyahu had a long history of navigating opposition demands from the United States and far-right members of his cabinet. He expressed doubts about agreeing to the agreement.
Meanwhile, efforts by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy to secure a New York meeting with either Prime Minister Netanyahu or Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer have been fruitless, as this reflects the UK's limited policies. This may reflect Israeli dissatisfaction. Prohibition on arms exports.
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Families of Gaza hostages have also called for a clause on Gaza to be included in Lebanon's cease-fire agreement, with a focus on securing the release of about 70 hostages believed to be alive and the bodies of about 30 others. He said that he has put
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Thursday hit a school housing thousands of displaced Palestinians, killing at least 11 people and injuring 22 others, including women and children, the Gaza Health Ministry said. . The Israeli military confirmed it had attacked a school in Jabalia refugee camp, but claimed the attack was aimed at Hamas militants hiding there.
Hezbollah has said it will continue fighting Israel as long as the Israel Defense Forces continue its military operations in Gaza, but Iran-backed Shiite militias have been using booby-trapped communications equipment to coordinate their efforts over the past nine days. Shattered by the attack, a withering air campaign followed.
A single airstrike in northeastern Lebanon killed 19 Syrian refugees and a Lebanese national, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said Thursday, bringing the death toll from days of Israeli airstrikes to more than 630, including about 4. One in ten are women and children, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Britain was one of the allies that supported the US-France call for a 21-day cease-fire. “I urge President Netanyahu and the Lebanese leader of Hezbollah to heed the unanimous voice at the United Nations that they should do just that,” the British Defense Secretary said after talks with his US and Australian counterparts in London. Ta. John Healy said 700 British troops had been sent to Cyprus to support the emergency evacuation of civilians from Lebanon in the event of a full-scale war.
The impact of Netanyahu's ceasefire on domestic politics is that Netanyahu's Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir told the prime minister that if the government agrees to a ceasefire, his party Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) It was revealed that he would not vote for a coalition government. Along with Hezbollah.
“We will not abandon the people of the north. As long as this ceasefire takes effect and Israel is not fighting in the north, Otzma Yehudit will not be involved in the coalition,” Ben Gvir said at a party conference. Ta.
Opposition Democratic Party leader Yair Golan also opposed committing to a three-week ceasefire, saying Israel should first agree to a multi-day ceasefire and see how well it would be implemented.
Israel has said it is prepared to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon alongside airstrikes, and on Thursday the Israel Defense Forces announced it had completed training for combat in Lebanon near its northern border.
The IDF hastily assembled two reserve brigades on Wednesday and will deploy them to the northern border to join Israel's 98th Airborne, which came under control of the Northern Army last week. but, Haaretz explained: as a “relatively limited reserve call-up.” Israeli newspapers reported that after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, “hundreds of thousands of reservists and several divisions were called up” for a ground invasion of Gaza.
Haaretz military correspondent Amos Harel claimed that Israel's invasion of Lebanon was “not yet a deal.”
