Is Israel moving towards Lebanon and Hezbollah and will it agree to a three-week ceasefire? According to a recent report (Thursday) on Sky News, the answer is yes.
The political system (both the left and the right) and the media strongly attacked Netanyahu for this three-week ceasefire along the border line between Israel and Lebanon, during which time the Americans will mediate and try to reach a solution that will bring northern residents back home.
According to the report, the 21-day truce will only be in the northern arena and not in Gaza. The Americans believe that the ceasefire will be an opportunity to achieve a permanent arrangement in Gaza.
The Prime Minister's Office chose to respond only hours after the report, despite Netanyahu's communications from the plane working as usual. According to Netanyahu: "The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. This is an American-French proposal that the Prime Minister hasn't even responded to."
The official response also stated: "The news about a supposed directive to moderate the fighting in the north is also the opposite of the truth. The Prime Minister instructed the IDF to continue fighting at full strength, according to the plans presented to him. Also, the fighting in Gaza will continue until all war objectives are achieved."
Finance Minister Smotrich responded, saying: "The campaign in the north must end in one scenario - crushing Hezbollah and denying its capabilities to harm northern residents. We must not give the enemy time to recover from the severe blows it has taken and reorganize for continued war after 21 days. Hezbollah's surrender or war, only this way will we return residents and security to the north and the country."
Opposition leader Lapid also responded to the proposal, saying: "The State of Israel should announce this morning that it accepts the Biden-Macron proposal for a ceasefire, but only for 7 days so as not to allow Hezbollah to rehabilitate its command and control systems. We will not accept any proposal that does not include distancing Hezbollah from our northern border."
Kikar Shabbat contributed to this article.