Netanyahu Rejects 'Ceasefire' In Lebanon Despite US Pressure

Israel PM said that he would not accept any arrangement that does not provides a buffer zone and which does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping.

Israeli PM has made it clear that any arrangement which would leave Hezbollah close to his country's northern border, is not acceptable. 

Source : PTI

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday rejected the idea of a ceasefire in Lebanon and retirated that Israel would not accept any arrangement that does not provide a buffer zone and which does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping. 

Amid ramped up pressure from the United States, the Israeli PM has made it clear that any arrangement which would leave Hezbollah close to his country's northern border, is not acceptable. 

According to an AFP report, Netanyahu has told the French President Emmanuel Macron over a call, that he was "opposed to a unilateral ceasefire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was."

The US has criticised Israel's conduct of the wars in Lebanon and Gaza, over the recent bombing of Beirut and has demanded that more aid reach the Palestinian territory. 

Israel has insisted that there must be a buffer zone along Israel's border with Lebanon where Hezbollah fighters are not present.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu clarified that Israel would not agree to any arrangement that does not provide this (a buffer zone) and which does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping," the report quoted from an official statement.

This comes amid Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem's statement where he said that the only solution was a ceasefire while threatening to expand the scope of its missile strikes across Israel.

In a televised speech, Qassem asserted that since Israel targeted all of Lebanon, "we have the right from a defensive position to target any place" in Israel.

Last week, on Wednesday Israel's military reported around 50 projectiles were fired from Lebanon at the country's north, without any casualties. Hezbollah said it launched a large salvo of missiles at the town of Safed.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military bombed several areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, including in the Bekaa Valley where a hospital in Baalbek city was put out of service, the report said. It was further claimed that three Hezbollah fighters were captured in south Lebanon by Israel.

The report further quoted Lebanon's health ministry, which said that the Tuesday strikes by Israel killed nine people in the country's south, and five others in the east, including three children.

The US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller voiced open criticism for Israeli air strikes in Lebanon in which residential buildings in central Beirut were hit on October 10.

Even a letter was sent to Israel by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, warning that the United States could withhold weapons deliveries unless more humanitarian aid was delivered to Palestinians in Gaza.

According to UNICEF, they were facing the tightest restrictions since October 2023, in delivering aid, despite a dire need for food, medical supplies and shelter in Gaza.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza after an October 7 attack by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures, including hostages killed in captivity.

The Israeli campaign has killed 42,344 people, the majority civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory which the UN considers reliable.

Israel-Lebanon-Iran Conflict

From September 23, Israel has escalated its air campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, launching a ground offensive a week later intended to push the group back from its northern border, AFP report said.

Hezbollah on the other hand has been firing thousands of projectiles into Israel over the last year in support of Hamas, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis, the report added.

Reportedly,1,356 people have been killed in Lebanon from Israel bombing that began in September, according to offcial figures, however, the real toll is likely higher.

According to International Organization for Migration, the war in Lebanon has displaced at least 690,000 people.

It is further reported that Israel is weighing how to respond to Iran’s decision to launch around 200 missiles at the country on October 1.

US Gives Israel 30 Days To Boost Gaza Aid Or Risk Military Support

According to a BBC report, The US has given Israel 30 days to boost humanitarian aid access in Gaza or risk having some US military assistance cut off.

“We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interest,” Netanyahu’s office said on Tuesday.

The US, which is Israel’s top arms supplier, has warned Israel against striking Iran’s nuclear or oil facilities.

The Iranian action came as a retaliation for an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and another that killed Iranian general Abbas Nilforoushan on September 27.

According to a Washington Post report on Monday citing unnamed US officials, Netanyahu reassured the White House that Israel was contemplating targeting only military sites.