Netanyahu says Lebanon strikes will go on, despite ceasefire call

Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel “will not stop” its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon despite calls from the US, France and other allies for an immediate three-week ceasefire aimed at containing the spread of a conflict that is beginning to engulf Lebanon.

- Julian Borger

Israeli airstrikes continued in Lebanon on Thursday, killing 92 people including the head of Hezbollah’s drone force, Mohammad Surur, and at least 150 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, according to the Israeli military.

The Israeli prime minister told reporters that his government’s policy was clear as he landed in New York, where he is due to address the UN general assembly on Friday. “We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force, and we will not stop until we reach all our goals – chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes,” Netanyahu said.

His office had earlier distanced the Israeli government from the ceasefire plan, which it described as “an American-French proposal that the prime minister has not even responded to”.

Those goals include the safe return of more than 60,000 Israelis forced to abandon their homes in northern Israel by Hezbollah bombing, which began on 8 October last year, the day after the start of the Gaza war prompted by Hamas's attacks.

US officials hope to persuade Netanyahu to accept the ceasefire proposal by the time he addresses the UN assembly today. They argue that a pause in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could also provide a breathing space in which to revive long-stalled negotiations with Israel and Hamas over the release of Israeli hostages in return for a truce in Gaza.

The US, France and some of their allies had on Wednesday called for an urgent cessation of hostilities, which they said "presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation." "We call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy," a joint statement said. "We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately."