Key Points
- Australia, the US, the EU and several Arab nations have issued a joint call for a “temporary ceasefire” in Lebanon.
- Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel’s military will continue to hit Lebanon with “full force” until its goals are achieved.
- Israel has launched a new wave of deadly strikes, killing at least 28 people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected proposals for a ceasefire with Hezbollah after the United States, Australia, European Union and several other countries called for a 21-day halt in the fighting that has alarmed Lebanon and raised fears of a ground invasion.
Landing in the US to address the United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu told reporters the military will keep hitting Lebanon with “full force and we will not stop until we achieve all our goals”.
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz had earlier dismissed hopes of a ceasefire.
“We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” Katz said on Thursday in a statement on the social media platform X.
Israel’s stance has dashed hopes for a peaceful settlement after Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed optimism that a ceasefire could be reached soon.
Israeli airstrikes, Hezbollah rocket fire continue
Meanwhile, there was no let-up in violence.
An Israeli warplane struck the edges of the capital Beirut, killing two people and wounding 15, including one woman critically, Lebanon’s health ministry said on Thursday.
That took deaths from hits overnight and during Thursday to 28.
The strike killed the head of one of Hezbollah’s air force units, Mohammad Surur, two security sources said, the latest senior Hezbollah commander to be targeted in days of assassinations hitting the group’s top ranks.
Earlier Israeli airstrikes had hit Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and ready-to-fire launchers, the Israeli military said on Thursday.
In one deadly strike, at least 23 Syrians, most of them women and children, were killed when Israel hit a three-story building in the Lebanese town of Younine, the town’s mayor, Ali Qusas, told Reuters.
Lebanon is home to around 1.5 million Syrians who fled the civil war there.
The Israeli military said dozens of Hezbollah targets were attacked, including terrorists, 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 Israeli military.
Israel prepares for potential ground invasion
On the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, the army staged an exercise simulating a ground invasion — a potential next stage after relentless airstrikes and explosions of communications devices.
Israel’s air force is planning to assist troops in the event of a ground operation and will stop any arms transfers from Iran, air force commander Major General Tomer Bar said.
‘Give diplomacy a chance to succeed’
Australia, the United States, the European Union and several Arab nations issued a joint call on Thursday for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon after Israeli strikes on Hezbollah threatened to tip the Middle East into all-out war.
“We, therefore, have worked together in recent days on a joint call for a temporary ceasefire to give diplomacy a chance to succeed and avoid further escalations across the border,” US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement.
The situation between Lebanon and Israel is “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation”, according to the joint statement, which was signed by the US, Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
“This is in nobody’s interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon.
“It is time to conclude a diplomatic settlement that enables civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes in safety,” they stated.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the call for a truce but said the key to its implementation was whether Israel, which has been moving troops closer to Lebanon, is committed to enforcing international resolutions.
Asked if a ceasefire could be secured soon, Mikati told Reuters: “Hopefully, yes.”
Earlier, Mikati called on the Security Council to put pressure on Israel for “an immediate ceasefire on all fronts”.
Mikati’s caretaker administration includes ministers chosen by Hezbollah, widely seen as the country’s most powerful political force.
On Thursday, the White House said discussions are continuing for a 21-day ceasefire and that US and Israeli officials would hold talks in New York.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken was scheduled to meet with Israeli minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer.
In London, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin warned there was a risk of all-out war in the Middle East but a diplomatic solution was still possible.
“So let me be clear, Israel and Lebanon can choose a different path, despite the sharp escalation in recent days, a diplomatic solution is still viable,” Austin said.
Penny Wong says ‘Lebanon cannot become the next Gaza’
World leaders expressed concern that the conflict — running in parallel to Israel’s war in Gaza — was escalating rapidly as the death toll in Lebanon rose past 600 and thousands fled their homes.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of missiles at targets in Israel, including its commercial hub Tel Aviv, although Israel’s aerial defence system has ensured that the damage has been limited.
Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, told reporters before a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday that Israel would welcome a ceasefire and preferred a diplomatic solution.
He then told the Security Council that Iran was the nexus of violence in the region and that peace required dismantling the threat.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters before the council meeting that his country supported Hezbollah and would not remain indifferent if the conflict in Lebanon spiralled.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who is currently in New York for the UN talks, said, “Lebanon cannot become the next Gaza”, saying it was the “women and children who are paying the highest price” in the cross-border conflict.
“This destructive cycle must stop, all parties must show restraint and de-escalate,” Wong said.
The French president said he was dispatching his foreign minister to Lebanon this week as part of efforts to stop war breaking out.
“There cannot be, must not be war in Lebanon,” Macron said in his speech at the UN on Wednesday.