Israel Foreign Minister rejects Lebanon ceasefire proposal amid escalating hostilities

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who left Israel to address the United Nations, has yet to respond directly to the ceasefire proposal.

Jerusalem: Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Thursday rejected proposals from the United States and France calling for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had not responded but told the army to keep up its operation.

"There will be no ceasefire in the north," Katz said on the social media platform X. "We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organization with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes."

Netanyahu, who left Israel on Thursday to address the United Nations, issued a statement that said he had ordered the military to keep fighting with full force, in accordance with operational plans.

"This is an American-French proposal that the Prime Minister has not even responded to," his office said in a statement.

Shortly after the statement was published, the Israeli military said it had launched a new wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads one of two nationalist-religious factions in the coalition, said Hezbollah should be crushed and that only its surrender would make it possible for the evacuees to return.

"The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows he received and to reorganize for the continuation of the war after 21 days," he said in a statement.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right faction was due to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday but members of the party have already come out against the proposal.

The United States and France, backed by other allies, called on Wednesday for a 21-day ceasefire along the Israel-Lebanon "Blue Line", the demarcation line between the two countries, to allow the parties to negotiate towards a potential diplomatic resolution.

Israel has launched the heaviest air strikes against Lebanon since the 2006 war over the past week, killing more than 600 people, as months of cross-border fire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement spiralled close to all-out war.

Hezbollah has fired hundreds of missiles at targets in Israel including, for the first time, its economic hub Tel Aviv, although Israel's aerial defence system has ensured that the damage has been limited.

On Wednesday, Israel's army chief made the most explicit public comment yet on the possibility of a ground assault on Lebanon, telling troops near the border to be prepared to cross the border.

It was not immediately clear whether the comments were a precursor to a ground operation or a negotiating tactic designed to pressure Hezbollah to back down. Israel called up two extra reserve brigades to the northern sector on Wednesday.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for almost a year since Hezbollah launched a first barrage the day after fighters from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7.