Israeli groups met yesterday, Thursday, to discuss US proposals for a ceasefire with Lebanon and will continue talks in the coming days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today, adding that he appreciated US efforts.
“Our teams met (Thursday, Sept. 26) to discuss the U.S. initiative and ways to achieve our common goal of returning people safely to their homes. We will continue these discussions in the coming days,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The Israeli prime minister’s statement came after his government’s foreign minister, Israel Kats, indicated yesterday that there would be no ceasefire on Israel’s northern border, even as the Israeli Air Force is conducting its heaviest bombing campaign in decades against Hezbollah positions.
The Israeli prime minister’s statement makes no reference to statements by Katz or other Israeli politicians who have also rejected the possibility of a ceasefire with Hezbollah, but notes that “there is a lot of inaccurate information circulating about the US-led ceasefire initiative.”
“Israel shares the goals of the US-led initiative to enable people along our northern border to return safely and carefully to their homes,” the statement from Netanyahu’s office stressed.
“Israel appreciates American efforts in this direction, because the US role is absolutely necessary to promote stability and security in the region,” it concluded.
Yesterday, after Netanyahu left for New York, where he is expected to address the UN General Assembly this afternoon at about 4:30 p.m. ET, his office issued another statement saying that the Israeli prime minister had ordered the country’s army to continue fighting with all its forces in Lebanon.
Israeli forces have been exchanging daily fire with Hezbollah on the border between Israel and Lebanon for nearly a year, shortly after the war in the Gaza Strip began.
Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been forced to flee their homes, with Israel stressing that one of the aims of its war effort is to return displaced people to their homes.
In the past week, Israel has struck hundreds of targets in Lebanon, mostly in the south of the country but also deeper inside, killing more than 600 people.
At the same time, Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and missiles at targets in Israel, including some in Tel Aviv. Israeli anti-aircraft defenses have intercepted most of the missiles and damage to Israel is relatively limited.
