Israel rejects cease-fire talks, keeps up attacks in Lebanon

TEL AVIV – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the military would maintain its bombardment of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon indefinitely, undermining efforts by the United States and allies to secure a cease-fire that would ease the risk of a regional war.
Air strikes will continue until all Israel’s objectives have been achieved, the prime minister said Thursday on arrival in New York to address the annual United Nations General Assembly. The most pressing of those goals is the return of Israel’s northern residents to their homes, he said, and that’s likely to be achieved only if Hezbollah is persuaded to stop firing cross-border missiles. 
“There will be no cease-fire,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted earlier on X, formerly known as Twitter, while Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the aim of the armed forces is to keep “throwing Hezbollah off balance and deepening their loss.”
The statements by Israel’s top ministers appeared to block attempts led by US President Joe Biden and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to secure a three-week cease-fire.
The US, European states and Arab powers, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, all urged a pause in fighting late Wednesday, after Israel indicated it was preparing a possible ground invasion of Lebanon. That would risk spiralling into a regional conflict that could drag in the US and Iran.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking in London, told reporters Thursday that “another full-scale war could be devastating for both Israel and Lebanon.” He said, “a diplomatic solution, not a military solution, is the only way to ensure that displaced civilians on both sides of the border can finally go back home.”
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging rocket fire since the start of the war in Gaza almost a year ago, and the militant group has long said it would keep up the attacks as long as Israel maintains its offensive against Hamas. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran and are designated terrorist organisations by the US, although Hezbollah is considered much more powerful. 
The bid for a cease-fire in Lebanon comes as Israeli forces pounded targets in the economically stricken country for a fourth day, including on the outskirts of Beirut. More than 600 people, including at least 50 children, have been killed since Monday, with tens of thousands of Lebanese fleeing the country’s south.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at northern Israel in response — including its first-ever attempt to target Tel Aviv — in the worst violence between the two sides since a 2006 war.
The Israel Defence Forces said it had killed the head of Hezbollah’s aerial unit in an air strike in Beirut on Thursday, the latest in a string of assassinations of senior members of the group. Hezbollah later confirmed the death on its Telegram account.
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported senior officials as saying they have their own conditions for a cease-fire that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is unlikely to agree to. Israel’s Army Radio, meanwhile, reported security officials it did not identify saying the military needs more time to achieve its goal of degrading Hezbollah’s capabilities.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has said half a million people have been displaced inside the country by the Israeli bombardment.
In the past week, Israel has significantly intensified its air attacks. The military has killed top Hezbollah commanders with strikes and many members were maimed in an operation in which thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded. Hezbollah and Iran blamed Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility. Israel says it has destroyed a significant part of Hezbollah’s missile arsenal.
One of Netanyahu’s far-right allies, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, threatened to quit the ruling coalition if a permanent truce is reached in Lebanon. Such a move could bring down the government.
Israel’s political opposition also indicated little enthusiasm for the cease-fire proposal.
Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister who’s likely to challenge Netanyahu at elections, said on X that the time is not right. “If Hezbollah wants the fire to stop, it can lay down its arms, demilitarise itself and move 15 kilometres away from the Israeli border,” he said.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, meanwhile, said a pause should last no more than seven days to prevent Hezbollah from regaining its military footing.
US efforts of a diplomatic breakthrough to end fighting in Gaza have been repeatedly dashed. Domestic critics of Netanyahu have accused him of delaying a truce because of the need to placate his far-right government allies such as Ben Gvir. Hamas has taken a similarly uncompromising line, despite the destruction of much of its military capability.