Hope fades for temporary Israeli-Lebanese ceasefire bid
The Israelis are seeing the ongoing attacks on Lebanon as the victory against Hezbollah, which is why we’ve had this political back-and-forth when it comes to this potential temporary ceasefire.
At first, the information leaks were indicating that the Israelis were onboard. The moment there was a huge political backlash from within Netanyahu’s government, he backtracked.
Now, the US officials are expressing a lot of frustration and doubt on something that they say Israelis were initially onboard.
The message is that the Israeli military campaign is going to continue until the Israelis say they are going to be able to return 60,000 evacuees to the north of the country.
Politicians in northern Israel oppose US-French truce proposal: Report
David Azulai, Israel’s Metula Regional Council chairman, has been quoted by Israeli media as saying that the US-French ceasefire proposal will ensure “the next October 7”, referring to the attack on southern Israel by the Palestinian fighters last year.
The politician in northern Israel also said that the Israeli government would be responsible for the consequences if the 21-day truce deal is sealed, pausing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Azulai said that recent days have highlighted Hezbollah’s capabilities and that “this government of [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu” must “remove the threat” to avoid another “October 7 next year”.
Amir Sofer, the Upper Galilee Regional Council’s chairman, was quoted by Israeli media as saying that while “there is a time for negotiations, this is not the time”.
Any Lebanon invasion would be quick, says Israeli security official
An Israeli security official has told AFP news agency that any Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon would be executed as quickly as possible. “We will try to do it as short as we can,” AFP quoted the official as saying. “I think that we are preparing that every day, and for sure that is inside our toolbox.”
The statement comes after top Israeli officials seemed to dismiss global calls for a ceasefire, even after meeting with US officials on a potential truce.
