‘The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. This is an American-French proposal that the prime minister has not even responded to,’ the prime minister’s office said.
By JNS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday pushed back against reports that Israel was about to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. This is an American-French proposal that the prime minister has not even responded to,” his office said, while Netanayhu was en route to New York to speak at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.
“The report of an alleged instruction to moderate the fighting in the north is also contrary to the truth,” the statement continued. “The prime minister has instructed the IDF to continue the fighting with full force and according to the plans presented to him,” his office said.
Israel’s military operations in Gaza, too, would continue “until all war objectives are achieved,” the statement added.
The statement comes as Netanyahu’s coalition members rejected the U.S.-France proposal for a 21-day ceasefire.
“The campaign in the north must end with one scenario—the crushing of Hezbollah and the elimination of its ability to harm the residents of the north,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key member of the ruling coalition.
The United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar called jointly on Wednesday night for an “immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement.”
Minutes before the statement went out, U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron stated that “it is time for a settlement on the Israel-Lebanon border that ensures safety and security to enable civilians to return to their homes.”
Neither of the two statements referred to Hezbollah.