Israel: We Will Continue to Fight Hezbollah Until Victory

A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli air strike on a village outside Tyre in southern Lebanon on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli air strike on a village outside Tyre in southern Lebanon on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
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Israel: We Will Continue to Fight Hezbollah Until Victory

A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli air strike on a village outside Tyre in southern Lebanon on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli air strike on a village outside Tyre in southern Lebanon on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Thursday rejected proposals for a ceasefire in Lebanon after the United States, France and several Arab countries called for a 21-day halt in the fighting to allow time to reach a diplomatic solution.

"There will be no ceasefire in the north. 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," he said in a statement on the social media platform X.

Prime Minister Benjamin 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.

Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters before a Security Council meeting on Wednesday that Israel would welcome a ceasefire and preferred a diplomatic solution. He then told the Council that Iran was the nexus of violence in the region and peace required dismantling the threat.

The Israeli military said Thursday it was targeting Hezbollah military infrastructure, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.

The military said around 45 projectiles were fired from Lebanon on Thursday, all of them either intercepted or falling in open areas. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza, hoping to pin down Israeli forces. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies of Iran.

The fighting has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the Lebanese-Israeli border. Israel has vowed to do whatever is necessary to allow its citizens to return, and has moved thousands of troops to the northern border in preparation for what could be a ground campaign into southern Lebanon.

The United States, France and other allies called Wednesday for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.

The joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, says the recent fighting is “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.”

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



Egypt Plans to Offer ‘Comprehensive Proposal’ to Rebuild Gaza While Palestinians Remain in Strip 

Palestinians walk in the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk in the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP)
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Egypt Plans to Offer ‘Comprehensive Proposal’ to Rebuild Gaza While Palestinians Remain in Strip 

Palestinians walk in the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk in the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP)

Egypt said on Tuesday it plans to offer a "comprehensive proposal" to rebuild Gaza while ensuring Palestinians remain on their land, according to a foreign ministry statement.

It said it is looking forward to cooperating with US President Donald Trump to reach comprehensive and just peace in the region.

The statement comes as Trump continues to press for his plan to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle its population to neighboring Egypt and Jordan despite vehement rejection from Arab states.

Egypt rejected any proposal to allocate land to Gaza residents, the state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV reported on Tuesday, citing Egyptian sources.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told state-owned al-Mamlaka TV on Tuesday that there is an Egyptian-led Arab plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing its people.

Trump said earlier on the same day that he believed there would be a parcel of land in Jordan, Egypt and someplace else where Palestinians can be resettled.

Trump has infuriated the Arab world by saying that Palestinians would not be able to return to their homes under his proposal to redevelop the enclave, which has been devastated by an Israeli offensive.

"We're going to take it. We're going to hold it, we're going to cherish it. We're going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the Middle East," Trump said in the Oval Office during a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, saying his plan would "bring peace" to the region.

King Abdullah said later that he reiterated to Trump Jordan’s "steadfast position" against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as in the occupied West Bank that borders his country.