Tel Aviv: Israel rejected proposals on Thursday for a ceasefire with Hezbollah, defying allies including the United 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 Israel Katz said on X. "We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist 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 Israel's war in Gaza - was escalating rapidly. The heaviest fighting in nearly two decades between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has raised fears of a new Israeli ground offensive across the Lebanese-Israeli frontier.
Hezbollah has faced off against the Israeli military since the Shi'ite Muslim movement was created by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to counter an Israeli invasion of Lebanon. It has since evolved into Tehran's most powerful Middle East proxy. The United States, France and several other allies called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border. They also expressed support for a ceasefire in Gaza following intense discussions at the United Nations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, heading to New York to address the UN, said he had not yet given his response to the truce proposal but had instructed the army to fight on. Hardliners in his government said Israel should reject any truce and keep hitting Hezbollah until it surrenders.
Israel has launched the heaviest air strikes against Lebanon since a 2006 war over the past week, killing more than 600 people, as months of cross-border fire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement spiralled close to all-out war. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of missiles at targets in Israel including, for the first time, its commercial hub Tel Aviv, although Israel's aerial defence system has ensured that the damage has been limited.
Asked if a ceasefire could be secured soon, Lebanese leader Mikati told news agency Reuters: "Hopefully, yes." His caretaker administration includes ministers chosen by Hezbollah, widely seen as Lebanon's most powerful political force. On Wednesday, Israel's army chief made the most explicit public comment yet on the possibility of a ground assault on Lebanon, telling troops near the border to be prepared to cross.
An Israeli 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 killed when Israel 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 the civil war there.
(With inputs from agency)
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