Israel Army Chief Sees Possibility for 'Sharp Conclusion' to Hezbollah Conflict

This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024.  (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
TT

Israel Army Chief Sees Possibility for 'Sharp Conclusion' to Hezbollah Conflict

This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024.  (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's Marjayoun shows smoke clouds rising amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Kafarkila on October 24, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Israel's military chief said there was a possibility for a "sharp conclusion" to the conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, the military said on Thursday.

"In the north, there's a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion. We thoroughly dismantled Hezbollah's senior chain of command," Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said in a video statement from a security assessment in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Israel unleashed its Lebanon offensive with the declared aim of securing the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from homes in northern Israel during a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah.

Israel has used airstrikes to pound southern Lebanon, Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, and sent ground forces into areas near the border. Lebanese authorities say the campaign has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1 million people, spawning a humanitarian crisis.



G7 Foreign Ministers Say 'Now is the Time' for Lebanon Ceasefire

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Ashrafieh, Lebanon, November 26, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Ashrafieh, Lebanon, November 26, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
TT

G7 Foreign Ministers Say 'Now is the Time' for Lebanon Ceasefire

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Ashrafieh, Lebanon, November 26, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Ashrafieh, Lebanon, November 26, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Foreign Ministers from the G7 democracies on Tuesday upped the pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying "now is the time to conclude a diplomatic settlement."

In a draft statement at the end of a two-day meeting in Italy, the G7 ministers urged Israel to facilitate humanitarian aid delivery to Palestinians, and condemned increasing settler violence in the West Bank, Reuters reported.

The ministers also condemned recent attack on the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and expressed their support for the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, saying it plays a "vital role."