JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday his government has not responded to pressure from the United States and its allies for a 21-day ceasefire in Israel’s fighting with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
“This is a US-French proposal to which the prime minister has not even responded,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said, adding that he had ordered the army to “continue fighting with full force.”
The United States, the European Union and other allies, including several Arab countries, issued a joint call for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon after Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon this week killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands of people.
A joint statement by US President Joe Biden, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and other allies said the situation in Lebanon had become “intolerable” and “is not in anyone’s interest, neither the people of Israel nor the people of Lebanon.”
“We call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire on the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement.”
The statement was issued jointly with Western powers, Japan and major Gulf Arab powers – Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – as the leaders met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The call for a three-week ceasefire came hours after Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi told troops on Wednesday to prepare for a possible ground offensive against Hezbollah.
Israeli aerial bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon has killed hundreds this week, while the militant group has retaliated with a barrage of rockets and said a ballistic missile targeted Tel Aviv.
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