Amid International Pressure, Top Israeli Leaders Say ‘There Will Be No Ceasefire’ With Hezbollah

Top Israeli leaders have indicated they will not agree to a ceasefire with the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon amid the international community’s push for one.

“There will be no ceasefire in the north,” Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz posted on X/Twitter on Thursday. “We will continue to fight against the terrorist organization Hezbollah with all our might until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a similar stance after he landed in New York on Thursday to address the UN General Assembly the following day.

“Our policy is clear: We continue to hit Hezbollah with all our might,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

“We will not stop until we achieve all of our goals, first of all returning the residents of the north safely to their homes,” the Israeli premier added. “This is the policy, and no one should make a mistake about that.”

Hezbollah has been pummeling northern Israeli communities almost daily with barrages of drones, rockets, and missiles from its stronghold of Lebanon, which borders the Jewish state, since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas invaded Israel from neighboring Gaza to the south on Oct. 7.

More than 60,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel and flee to other parts of the country amid the unrelenting attacks from Hezbollah, which wields significant political and military influence across Lebanon.

The conflict has escalated over the past week, with both sides increasing the scale and intensity of their strikes.

Israeli leaders have said for months they seek a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon but are prepared to use large-scale military force if needed to ensure all citizens can safely return to their homes. Last week, Israel’s security cabinet expanded its war goals to include returning the displaced Israelis from the north.

Amid the major uptick in military strikes over the past several days, the US under the Biden administration and France have spearheaded an international push to stop the hostilities.

The subject of a ceasefire was reportedly not mentioned in Israel’s political-security cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

“The direction is that we are not going to a ceasefire in Lebanon now but to continue fighting against Hezbollah,” a member of Netanyahu’s entourage told reporters, according to Israeli media reports. “We remain committed to returning the residents in the north to their homes.”

However, several countries have been aggressively pushing for a ceasefire this week. A joint statement by the US, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and  Qatar released on Wednesday read: “It is time to conclude a diplomatic settlement that enables civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes in safety.”

“Diplomacy however cannot succeed amid an escalation of this conflict,” it continued. “Thus we call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement consistent with UNSCR [UN Security Council Resolution] 1701, and the implementation of UNSCR 2735 regarding a ceasefire in Gaza.”

UNSCR 1701 required the disarmament of Hezbollah. However, since then, Iran’s chief proxy force has built up its weapons arsenal to threaten Israel, and the terrorist group has shown no indications it is willing to consider disarming.

Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah have been ongoing since Oct. 8, when Hezbollah began its bombardment of northern Israel. However, Hezbollah has tied its willingness to agree to a cessation of hostilities to an end of the war against Hamas in Gaza — which has stifled negotiations.

Netanyahu’s reaction to the push for a ceasefire may have come as a surprise to some American officials. Journalist Barack Ravid, reporting for Walla, wrote that Netanyahu “was involved in formulating” the temporary ceasefire proposal, but backed out “after the threats from the far-right ministers in the government and the attacks from the opposition.”

Reportedly, in a Monday call, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer agreed with an American counterpart that “a temporary ceasefire was the right thing to do and that the US would aim to publicize the ceasefire initiative.”

Originally, Netanyahu was reportedly amenable to such a deal because according to a source knowledgeable of the talks, “he does not want to be dragged into a ground invasion that could lead to entanglement and erode the achievements that the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has achieved so far.”

However, some reports have indicated that Netanyahu had initially expressed a willingness to agree to a ceasefire if Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was willing to accept such a deal as well, knowing the terror chief would not do so. But, according to the reports, US officials nonetheless indicated that the Israeli premier was fully on board with the ceasefire in a bid to exert media and diplomatic pressure to compel him to accept it.

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