Israel rejects U.S.-backed Lebanon ceasefire proposal

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

******* rejects U.S.-backed Lebanon ceasefire proposal

By Timour Azhari and James Mackenzie

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – ******* rejected proposals on Thursday for a ceasefire with Hezbollah, defying allies including the ******* States which had called for an immediate three-week halt in fighting to allow for diplomacy to avert a wider war.

“There will be no ceasefire in the north,” Foreign Minister ******* Katz said on X. “We will continue to ****** against the Hezbollah ********** organization with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”

The comments dashed hopes for a swift settlement, after Prime Minister Najib Mikati had expressed hope that a ceasefire could be reached soon in Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes seeking safety.

World leaders voiced concern that the conflict – running in parallel to *******’s war in Gaza – was escalating rapidly.

The heaviest fighting in nearly two decades between ******* and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has raised fears of a new ******** ground offensive across the Lebanese-******** frontier.

Hezbollah has faced off against the ******** military since the Shi’ite ******* movement was created by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to counter an ******** invasion of Lebanon. It has since evolved into Tehran’s most powerful Middle East proxy.

The ******* States, France and several other allies called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the *******-Lebanon border. They also expressed support for a ceasefire in Gaza following intense discussions at the ******* Nations.

******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, heading to New York to address the U.N., said he had not yet given his response to the truce proposal but had instructed the army to ****** on. Hardliners in his government said ******* should ******* any truce and keep hitting Hezbollah until it surrenders.

******* has launched the heaviest air strikes against Lebanon since a 2006 war over the past week, ******** more than 600 people, as months of cross-border ***** with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement spiralled close to all-out war.

Hezbollah has fired hundreds of missiles at targets in ******* including, for the first time, its commercial hub Tel Aviv, although *******’s aerial defence system has ensured that the damage has been limited.

Asked if a ceasefire could be secured soon, Lebanese leader Mikati told Reuters: “Hopefully, yes.” His caretaker administration includes ministers chosen by Hezbollah, widely seen as Lebanon’s most powerful political force.

On Wednesday, *******’s army chief made the most explicit public comment yet on the possibility of a ground ******** on Lebanon, telling troops near the border to be prepared to cross.

An ******** strike hit a border crossing between Lebanon and Syria on the Syrian side, said Lebanon’s transport minister.

At least 23 Syrians, most of them women and children, were ******* when ******* hit a three-story building in the Lebanese town of Younine overnight, the town’s mayor, Ali Qusas, told Reuters. Lebanon is home to around 1.5 million Syrians who fled civil war there.

SHELTERING IN SCHOOLS

Thousands of Lebanese have sought shelter in schools in Beirut. In one of them, women could be seen leaning out of classroom windows, smoking cigarettes or airing out foam mattresses they had slept on this week.

“I just want to know if there will be a little electricity at night so I can go buy a fan,” one woman said.

Aid organizations were distributing clothes and food, and checking on any medications needed by elderly people who had fled too quickly to bring their prescriptions with them.

The ******** military said it had attacked dozens of Hezbollah targets including fighters, military buildings and weapons depots, in several areas on Thursday morning.

Around 45 projectiles were fired from Lebanon towards the western Galilee area, some of which were intercepted with the rest falling on open ground, said the ******** military.

The relentless fighting has led some neighbouring countries to worry about the safety of their citizens living in Lebanon. Turkey is making preparations for the possible evacuation of its citizens and foreign nationals from Lebanon, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.

******* has made a priority of securing its northern border and allowing the return there of some 70,000 residents displaced by near-daily exchanges of *****, which Hezbollah initiated a year ago in solidarity with the ************ group ****** in Gaza.

*******’s airstrikes sharply intensified since Monday, when more than 550 people were ******* in Lebanon’s deadliest day since the end of a 1975-1990 civil war.

The ******** follows attacks last week when pagers and walkie talkies exploded across Lebanon, ******** scores of people and wounding thousands including Hezbollah members.

(Reporting by John Irish, Michelle Nichols and Humeyra Pamuk at the ******* Nations, Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Gabriella Borter and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Peter Graff)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#******* #rejects #U.S.backed #Lebanon #ceasefire #proposal

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up