BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Sept 26 (Askume) – Israel on Thursday rejected global calls for a ceasefire with the Hezbollah movement, ignoring its biggest ally in Washington and stepping up attacks in Lebanon that have killed hundreds and raised wider regional concerns.
Despite Israel’s stance, the United States and France on Wednesday sought to keep the prospect of a proposed 21-day ceasefire alive and said negotiations would continue, including on the sidelines of a UN meeting in New York.
The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli warplane struck a suburb of the capital Beirut, killing two people and wounding 15 others, including a woman who is in critical condition. This brought the death toll to 28 overnight and Thursday, with more than 600 dead since Monday.
Hezbollah said the attack killed the head of Hezbollah’s air force, Mohammad Surul, the latest senior Hezbollah commander to be implicated in the killing of a senior member of the group.
On the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, troops carried out an exercise simulating a ground invasion – a possible next step after persistent air strikes and the explosion of communications equipment.
Air Force commander Major General Tomer Bar said on Thursday that the Israeli Air Force plans to support its forces in the event of ground operations and will block any weapons transfers from Iran.
“We are preparing for ground exercises shoulder to shoulder with the Northern Command. If it happens, we are ready. This decision must be made from the top,” he told troops in a video distributed by the Israeli military.
Israel has vowed to ensure the security of its northern region and deport thousands of civilians Hezbollah expelled from Gaza last year in a show of solidarity .
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York on Friday and told reporters ahead of a speech to the United Nations General Assembly that the army will continue to attack Hezbollah with all its might and we will not stop until all our goals are achieved. Most importantly, send the northern residents home safely.
“There will be no ceasefire in the north,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said on Twitter.
Israel’s stance dashed hopes for a quick resolution, with Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib calling on the United Nations to end the crisis with an immediate ceasefire, “before the situation spirals out of control and has far-reaching consequences.”
“Lebanon is currently going through a crisis that threatens its existence,” Bou Habib told the UN General Assembly on Thursday evening.
White House spokesman John Kirby said in an earlier briefing that Israel was “fully aware and conscious of every word” of the ceasefire proposal and that allies expected it to be taken seriously. The United States is Israel’s longtime ally and biggest arms supplier.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not believe Israel’s denial was final. “It would be a mistake for the prime minister to deny it because he would be responsible for the tensions in the region,” Macron told reporters in Canada.
“We will do everything possible to ensure that this resolution is accepted,” Macron said, adding that France is ready to call a new meeting of the UN Security Council to support the resolution.
Israel has launched its heaviest bombing campaign against Lebanon since a major war in 2006, forcing millions of people to flee their homes.
Hezbollah has faced Israeli forces since the Shi’ite Muslim movement was created by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to counter Israel’s invasion of Lebanon . It has since become Tehran’s most powerful proxy in the Middle East.
Washington still wants a ceasefire
The White House said discussions are ongoing between US and Israeli officials, including US Special Envoy for the Middle East Brett McGurk. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
In London, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned there was a risk of all-out war in the Middle East but a diplomatic solution was still possible.
“So let me be clear: Israel and Lebanon can choose different paths and, despite the dramatic escalation in recent days, a diplomatic solution is still possible,” Austin said.
Hezbollah fired hundreds of missiles at a number of targets, including Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, although Israeli air defences ensured damage was limited.
The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen late Thursday . Yemen’s Houthis, allies of Hezbollah and Hamas, have repeatedly fired at Israel in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israeli warplanes also attacked infrastructure on the Lebanese-Syrian border on Thursday to prevent the transfer of weapons from Syria to Lebanese Hezbollah, the Israeli military said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said Thursday’s victims, mostly Syrians, died in the town of Union in the Bekaa Valley. About 1.5 million Syrians live in Lebanon since they fled the country’s civil war.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it attacked the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona and an Israeli military Northern Command base and also used anti-aircraft weapons, forcing two Israeli warplanes to retreat.
Thousands of Lebanese took refuge in Beirut’s schools. Aid organizations distribute clothes and food to elderly people who cannot carry their medicines and check to see if they need medicine.
