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There was more political chaos in Israel on Thursday after reports emerged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on the brink of signing up to a temporary pause in fighting with Hezbollah, only for him to then issue a hasty statement expressing commitment to the campaign in Lebanon after severe backlash from within his government.
Far-right ministers, members of Mr Netanyahu’s own party and municipal leaders slammed any suggestion of a pause in fighting, which is being pushed by the US and France, saying it would allow Hezbollah time to recover from a devastating few weeks in which Israel ramped up attacks on the group, which has also had a massive toll on civilians.
The prospect of a pause in fighting was also criticised by members of the opposition, a sign that, after 11 months of tit-for-tat strikes between both sides, there is widespread desire in Israel for a decisive campaign against Hezbollah, despite the group having the firepower to inflict massive damage on Israel.
Israel has been mobilising significant forces on the northern border during the past few weeks as military chiefs say the army is preparing for a possible ground campaign and political leaders made returning residents an official war goal. It blew up thousands of walkie-talkies owned mainly by Hezbollah, then began air strikes this week across Lebanon, in what it said were targeted attacks on the group's senior members and infrastructure. Hezbollah fired volleys of rockets into Israel, landing missiles across the north and as far as Tel Aviv.
Almost 700 people have been killed in Lebanon as a result of Israel's strikes in the last few days, and over 500,000 forced to flee, the country's government said.
The far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to take his party out of Mr Netanyahu’s coalition if a ceasefire with Hezbollah was signed. “The most basic and understandable thing is that when your enemy is on his knees, you do not allow him to recover, but work to defeat him,” Mr Ben-Gvir said, adding that stopping the campaign “conveys weakness”. In response to reports of a deal being close, Mr Netanyahu’s office issued a statement calling the potential deal “an American-French proposal that the Prime Minister has not even responded to”.
The US, France and other nations had called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border in a joint statement on Wednesday evening which also expressed support for a ceasefire in Gaza.
A host of other right-wing and far-right government politicians slammed the prospect of a ceasefire and even politicians further to the left were sceptical. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, one of the few politicians who publicly backed some form of a pause in fighting, said Israel should accept the “Biden-Macron ceasefire proposal, but only for seven days so as not to allow Hezbollah to restore its command and control systems”.
Moshe Davidovich, who leads a regional council in northern Israel, told the Israeli outlet Ynet that a ceasefire would be a “present we must not give [Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah]”. More than 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from northern areas of Israel, a major unsolved political scandal facing the government.
Israeli pollster Dahlia Scheindlin told The National that the regional escalation involving Hezbollah is “more rallying for Israelis” than fighting in Gaza. “The war in Gaza, as much as Israelis see it as justified, is still viewed as a failure of the country. Whereas Hezbollah woke up one day and decided to start shelling Israel, therefore the fight in the north has less ambiguity and is easier to rally around,” she said.
“In terms of whether Israel should go for a little war with Hezbollah or a bigger one that risks regional escalation with Iran, that’s where you have significant ambiguity among the Israeli public. We see a bare majority for more significant military action, but I sense there is definitely trepidation around the idea of an all-out war that risks escalation with Hezbollah and other countries in the Middle East,” she added. “No one likes a multi-front war. Specifically, Hezbollah’s ability to hit civilian infrastructure anywhere in the country is of concern.”
Despite Mr Netanyahu’s swift denial of an emerging deal, diplomatic sources told The National on Thursday that negotiations have not finished. “Everything is on the table – negotiations are ongoing, and nothing is final. We remain in a phase of high-level talks, and the United Nations General Assembly provides the ideal framework,” a Western diplomat said.
