Dismissing News About Ceasefire, PM Netanyahu Orders Israeli Military To Join With Full Strength

Bombing in southern Lebanon. (Wikimedia Commons/Lingfing)

JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that media reports suggesting there would likely be a ceasefire in Lebanon were "not true", instead he had ordered the Israeli military to continue fighting "with full force."

PM Netanyahu has not yet responded to a ceasefire proposed by the United States and France, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

"The news about the ceasefire is not true. This is an American-French proposal, which the prime minister has not even responded to," the statement read.

"The news about the directives that should be to moderate the fighting in the north is also the opposite of the truth. The prime minister ordered (Israeli Defense Forces) to continue the fighting with full force, and in accordance with the plans submitted to him," the statement continued.

Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz, said there would be "there would be no ceasefire in the northern region," with Israel continuing to fight Hezbollah "with all its might to victory and citizens in the northern region being able to return to their homes safely."

As previously reported, the United States and some of its allies called for a 21-day ceasefire on the Israel-Lebanon border to prevent regional war outbreaks and disrupt stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

A proposal described by a senior US official as an "important breakthrough," comes amid a deadly battle between Israel and Hezbollah that it fears could spread into a wider conflict.

Hoping to prevent such a thing, diplomats and leaders gathered in New York to attend the UN General Assembly session spent the last 48 hours in a hurry to get plans that would stop fighting and provide space for diplomacy to do.

Israel and Hezbollah have yet to reach an agreement. But US officials say the two sides are "affordable" with the flow of the proposal and voiced that this optimism is the right time to announce it to the public.

"The situation between Lebanon and Israel since October 8, 2023, cannot be tolerated and presents a wider regional escalation risk that cannot be accepted. This is not in anyone's interest, neither the Israeli people nor the Lebanese people," read a joint statement from the countries released on Wednesday, September 26 evening local time.

It is known that the toughest fighting in nearly two decades between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has raised fears of a new Israeli ground attack on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Tensions between the two sides have risen dramatically since earlier this week, with Israeli airstrikes being responded to by Hezbollah's rocket launch.