Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he “shares the aim” of the U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the intensifying war with Hezbollah, just hours after insisting that the IDF would not back down amid reports of an imminent ceasefire.
“Due to a lot of misreporting around the U.S.-led ceasefire initiative, it is important to clarify a few points. Earlier this week, the United States shared with Israel its intention to put forward, together with other international and regional partners, a ceasefire proposal in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said.
“Israel shares the aims of the U.S.-led initiative of enabling people along our northern border to return safely and securely to their homes. Israel appreciates the U.S. efforts in this regard because the U.S. role is indispensable in advancing stability and security in the region,” continued the premier.
“Our teams met [on Thursday] to discuss the U.S. initiative and how we can advance the shared goal of returning people safely to their homes. We will continue those discussions in the coming days,” he added.
Earlier, Netanyahu had 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.
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer—a close adviser to Netanyahu—was scheduled to meet with top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on the sidelines of the summit.
Sources in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office cited by Israel’s Channel 12 News said that Dermer received a green light to continue negotiations.
“The report of an alleged instruction to moderate the fighting in the north is also contrary to the truth,” according to Netanyahu’s statement. “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.
Minutes later, Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted to X: “There will be no ceasefire in the north. 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 statements came as Netanyahu’s coalition members rejected the U.S.-France proposal for a 21-day ceasefire.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who heads the Otzma Yehudit Party, vowed to leave the coalition government “if the temporary ceasefire becomes permanent.”
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.”
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.
