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Benjamin Netanyahu US trip amid calls for ceasefire in Lebanon

Australia has joined the US, Britain and the EU to call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border, as Benjamin Netanyahu approves talks with the US over a pause in conflict.

A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli air strike on a village outside Tyre in southern Lebanon. Picture: AFP
A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli air strike on a village outside Tyre in southern Lebanon. Picture: AFP

Australia has joined key partners including the US, Britain and the EU to call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border, declaring the situation is “intolerable” and risks escalating into a wider war.

The move came as Israel’s military chief warned the country was preparing for a ground ­invasion of Lebanon, saying his troops would “show them what it means to face a professional, highly skilled and battle-­experienced force”.

As the death toll from Israel's attacks across its northern border reached 620, Anthony Albanese and 10 international counterparts urged a diplomatic settlement to allow civilians on both sides to return to their homes.

“Diplomacy however cannot succeed amid an escalation of this conflict,” the nations said in a joint statement also backed by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.

“We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately … to give a real chance to a diplomatic settlement.”

Reports in the US and Israel said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will address the UN General Assembly on Saturday (AEST), had approved talks with the Biden administration over the potential pause in the fighting.

Hezbollah would not be asked to sign the ceasefire proposal, the New York Times reported, but Lebanon would be expected to ensure the terrorist group complied with its terms.

As negotiations continued, ­Israeli Defence Forces chief Herzi Halevi told troops that the country’s bombardment of Hezbollah targets would open the way for the next phase of the war.

‘Moral cowardice’: Labor joins call for 21-day ceasefire on Israel-Lebanon border

“You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day,” Lieutenant General Halevi said.

“This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah. It means your military boots, your manoeuvring boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts.”

He said the planned incursion would allow the tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah rocket fire to return to their homes in the country’s north.

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Penny Wong warned that Lebanese civilians “cannot be made to pay the price of defeating ­Hezbollah”.

“The global community has made clear that this destructive cycle must stop,” the Foreign Minister said.

She reiterated her warning to Australians in Lebanon to leave now, amid flight disruptions and the prospect that Beirut’s airport might be forced to close for an extended period.

“I again say, please do not wait for a preferred route. Please take the first option you can to leave,” she said.

Senator Wong added the government was unable to guarantee Australians passage out of the country.

Just over a week before the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, Senator Wong revealed she had “very constructive talks” with Palestinian Authority representatives at the UN. “They are aware of the decisions we’ve taken to demonstrate support both in action and word for the Palestinian cause,” she said.

Senator Wong said the situation in Lebanon made an immediate ceasefire in Gaza “even more urgent”, adding that Hamas must release its Israeli hostages and aid must flow into the Palestinian enclave.

Joe Biden said in Washington a ceasefire in Lebanon was vital. “We were able to generate significant support from Europe, as well as the Arab nations,” the US President said. “It’s important the war does not widen.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati pleaded for the UN Security Council to halt Israel’s bombardment of his country. He told an emergency session of the council that Israeli airstrikes and attacks on Hezbollah pagers and radios had spread “terror and fear among the Lebanese citizens in full view of the world”.

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“I hope to come back to my country armed with your explicit stance calling for the cessation of this aggression and for the respect of the sovereignty and safety of my country,” Mr Mikati told the UN’s most powerful body.

A day earlier, Israeli air defence systems intercepted a Hezbollah missile fired at Israeli intelligence headquarters in Tel Aviv – the terrorist group’s furthest attack yet into Israeli territory.

Hezbollah confirmed Israel also killed one of its top commanders, Ibrahim Kobeisi, in an airstrike on a Beirut suburb in recent days.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that “hell is breaking out in Lebanon”, and urged the warring parties to “step back from the brink”.

“An all-out war must be avoided at all costs. It would surely be an all-out catastrophe,’ Mr Guterres said.

“The people of Lebanon as well as the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to be another Gaza.”

The UN refugee agency said more than 90,000 people had been displaced in Lebanon by Israeli airstrikes.

Australia’s former US ambassador Joe Hockey said Mr Netanyahu appeared to have “lost patience” and his aggression against Hezbollah had led to a “surge in support” even among those with “no great affection” for him.

“Because of the missile attacks from Hezbollah immediately after those October attacks, around 70,000 people left Northern Israel, and they’ll never go back whilst Hezbollah remains a threat and is lobbing missiles,” Mr Hockey told the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday.

“And I think the IDF has taken the lessons from Gaza, tragic, tragic as they are, and has worked out how to be more precise, thank God, about taking out the terrorist group.”

Mr Hockey said a victory for Republican Donald Trump at the US election would not further embolden Israel.

“Don’t forget the Trump administration delivered the Abraham Accords,” he said.

On recognition of Palestine, Mr Hockey, who is half Palestinian, said the matter was vexed. “What are you recognising? Because there’s nothing in Gaza. There’s no leadership,” he said. “You aren’t going to recognise Hamas. And as for the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority is just so, so corrupt. The question is what are you aiming to get at? I think what’s most concerning is no-one knows what plan B is.”

He said there would “never” be a resolution without everyone at the table including Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

“And you can’t have Turkey on the sidelines, declaring Israel an evil state,” he said. “You’ve got to bring the key players.”

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/benjamin-netanyahu-approves-us-talks-with-amid-coalition-calls-for-ceasefire/news-story/ea5aa4c908462cc2e07620a88c33ea18