2024-09-27 09:25:26
Dashing hopes of a truce, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel will continue to strike the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and will not stop until it achieves its goals. Netanyahu said this while landing in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, the Associated Press reported.
During the event, US and European officials pressured both sides of the conflict to accept a proposed 21-day ceasefire to allow time for diplomacy and avoid full-scale war.
Hundreds of people have died in Lebanon this week after Israel significantly stepped up strikes it claims are targeting Hezbollah’s military capabilities. Israeli leaders have said they intend to end more than 11 months of cross-border fire by the militant group, which has prompted tens of thousands of Israelis to evacuate their homes in the country’s north.
Netanyahu said Israel’s policy “is clear – we continue to hit Hezbollah with full force and we will not stop until we achieve our goals, the main of which is the return of the residents of the north to the safety of their homes.”
Shortly before Netanyahu’s comments, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they had killed Hezbollah drone commander Mohammed Hussein Surur in an airstrike in a suburb of Beirut. There is no confirmation of this from the group yet.
Israel has talked about a possible ground invasion of Lebanon to drive Hezbollah away from the border and has deployed thousands of troops in the north on standby. Thousands of Lebanese fled the southern part of the country in the last week, writes BTA.
The escalation has raised fears of a repeat of the 2006 war between the two sides, which devastated large parts of southern Lebanon and other parts of the country and led to heavy Hezbollah rocket fire on Israeli cities.
“We now face the risk of an open-ended war. Another full-scale war could be devastating for both Israel and Lebanon,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after talks with his British and Australian counterparts in London.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Israeli representatives on the sidelines of the UN, discussing the ceasefire proposal with them. He said major powers, Europeans and Arab nations were united – “all speaking with one clear voice about the need for this cease-fire” – but that he could not speak for Netanyahu.
Hezbollah has not yet responded to the cease-fire proposal. Lebanon’s interim prime minister, Najib Mikati, welcomed him, but his government has no influence over the group.
Netanyahu’s cabinet downplayed the initiative, saying in a statement that it was only a proposal and that Israel would continue to defend itself against Hezbollah attacks coming from Lebanon.
Meanwhile, a far-right partner in Netanyahu’s coalition government threatened today to withdraw from it if a truce is reached.
“If the temporary ceasefire becomes permanent, we will resign from the government,” said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish Power party.
If Ben-Gvir leaves the coalition, Netanyahu would lose his parliamentary majority and his government would fall, although opposition leaders have said they would offer support for a ceasefire deal.