The proposal calls for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah while negotiations would continue throughout that period to reach a permanent agreement.
That agreement aims to enforce a military withdrawal along the Blue Line, a boundary between the two countries.
Along with the U.S. and France, the proposal was signed by Australia, Canada, European Union, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
But Netanyahu said he would “continue fighting with full force” against Hezbollah.
“The fighting in Gaza will also continue until all the objectives of the war have been achieved,” he said in a statement.
The U.S. is directly pressuring the government of Lebanon to enforce the proposal. Neither Lebanon nor Hezbollah had an immediate comment Thursday.
Israel has been fighting Hezbollah for some 11 months after the Lebanese militant group began firing across the border on Oct. 8 in an operation tied to the Israel-Hamas war.
The U.S. has been trying for months to reach a diplomatic agreement that would resolve the crisis in the north, which is becoming a more heated battleground now that large operations against Hamas in Gaza have wound down.
- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the proposal was coordinated with the Israeli government.
- “I’m just laying out the facts and what we know, and what we want to avoid,” she told reporters. “We do not believe an all-out war is the answer.”
- Jean-Pierre said conversations are ongoing in New York with Israeli officials.
Netanyahu and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer were briefed on the proposal Tuesday and Wednesday, expressing initial approval, according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz.
But Netanyahu reversed course Thursday while en route to New York for the United Nations General Assembly after pressure from factions in his government and his office released a statement Thursday with formal opposition.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby added later Thursday that the proposal and statement released Wednesday “wasn’t just drawn up in a vacuum” and would not have been published if Israel was not “supportive of the goal.”
“It was done after careful consultation, not only with the countries have signed on to it, but Israel itself,” he said, adding there was “every reason” to expect the Israeli government was fully aware of “every word in it.”
Israel is increasingly concerned about the some 60,000 displaced residents from the north and has made it a war goal to return them home to a safe area.
The past week has seen intense Israeli attacks on Lebanon, including a Monday strike that killed more than 500 people.
Israel’s top military commander warned this week that troops were preparing for a ground offensive in Lebanon.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday that “getting into a full-scale war is not the way to achieve ” Israel’s objectives.
“There’s no way in that situation that people are going to be able to go back,” he said, pushing for “a diplomatic resolution that creates that environment to get people home.”
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
