Benjamin Netanyahu ’shares aim of US-led peace initiative’

Benjamin Netanyahu blamed claims he rejected a US-led push for ceasefire with Hezbollah on ‘misreporting’, as officials say his denial of the truce had ‘shattered’ relations with Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to hose down fears that he will not agree

to a US-led push for ceasefire with Hezbollah, amid reports his rejection of the truce had “shattered” relations with Washington.

Earlier today, Mr Netanyahu denied his government had even responded to the proposal drawn up by the US and France for a 21-day ceasefire, despite reports in the US and Israeli media that he had approved talks with the Biden administration over a potential pause in the fighting.

But in a new statement on Friday (AEST), Mr Netanyahu said he “shares the aims of the US-led initiative’ for a ceasefire.

Ahead of Mr Netanyahu’s address to the UN General Assembly on Saturday (AEST) his office said Israeli and American teams had meet to discuss the truce proposal and “how we can advance the shared goal of returning people safely to their homes.

“We will continue those discussions in the coming days,” the PMO said.

As Washington and Paris both issued statements that Israel had indicated it would support the proposal the PMO also said it wanted to “clarify” the issue.

“Due to a lot of misreporting around the US-led ceasefire initiative, it is important to clarify a few points,” it said in a statement.

“Earlier this week, the United States shared with Israel its intention to put forward, together with other international and regional partners, a ceasefire proposal in Lebanon.

“Israel shares the aims of the US-led initiative of enabling people along our northern border to return safely and securely to their homes.”

Earlier, the office had denied that Mr Netanyahu had consulted over the proposal, despite calls from 11 world leaders, including Anthony Albanese, for a diplomatic settlement to allow civilians on both sides to return to their homes.

“It is an American-French proposal, which the prime minister has not even responded to,” Mr Netanyahu’s office had said, adding that he had ordered the army “to continue the fighting with full force”.

By now you know that Hezbollah has been attacking Israel for the last 11 months, but did you know that they’ve also been attacking the entire Western world for the last 40 years? pic.twitter.com/u9Ht1LfYEX

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 26, 2024

Moreover, as Mr Netanyahu arrived in New York for his address, members of his entourage told reporters on the flight the PM had never agreed to a ceasefire and that the topic did not come up in the previous night’s cabinet meeting.

His statement heightened tensions with the US, with Israel’s Channel 12 reporting that he had “shattered” relations with Washington, where it had been expected that Mr Netanyahu would announce he welcomed any ceasefire initiative when he landed in New York.

“Obviously the President of the United States would not lead a process like this without the agreement of Prime Minister Netanyahu. This backtracking completely shatters what remains of relations with the Biden Administration,” a source close to the White House told Channel 12.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz confirmed there would be no ceasefire in the near future, writing on X: “We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”

The announcement came as Israel’s military killed Hezbollah’s air force chief and continued to pound Lebanon, with 220 strikes,

Israel’s military also confirmed Yemen’s Houthis had fired a missile at Tel Aviv, which had been intercepted by the ‘Arrow’ defence system.

Arrow defense system working‼️ https://t.co/eIfvaqViVDpic.twitter.com/ygszVMhve7

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 26, 2024

The IDF also announced a fresh round of strikes on Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon and said it had killed another senior Hezbollah leader in a strike on Beirut. Mohammed Srur was the head of Hezbollah’s aerial forces, who directed numerous aerial attacks on Israel, including explosive-laden drones and cruise missiles, according to the Israeli Defence Forces.

Following the strike on Srur, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said the military would continue to strike the group.

“We need to continue attacking Hezbollah. We have been waiting for this opportunity for years,” Lt. General Halevi said, suggesting the military was against a ceasefire.

“We are constantly working to make achievements, to eliminate more senior officials, to thwart the transfer of weapons, to [destroy] Hezbollah’s firepower [capabilities], and to attack it in all of Lebanon,” he added.

Speaking to soldiers and commanders at an air base in central Israel, air force chief Major General Tomer Bar said preparations were underway for possible ground operations.

“We are essentially preparing shoulder to shoulder with the Northern Command for a potential ground manoeuvre. We are preparing for its activation if necessary,” Maj-Gen Bar said, while noting that the decision was “above us”.

He said the air force was already working to prevent arms transfers to Hezbollah from Iran.

“We are currently in Lebanon to prevent any possibility of arms transfers from Iran in light of what we have already taken from Hezbollah,” he said.

“This mission is becoming the top priority because (Hezbollah chief Hassan) Nasrallah’s security and Hezbollah’s ability to recover from what happened to them a few days ago depend on the open conduit coming from Iran.”

Despite disappointment over the ceasefire, the US reaffirmed its commitment to Israel, with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin insisting Israel has “a right to defend itself” adding that Hezbollah began firing rockets a year ago across the Lebanon border “and has not stopped since”.

Mr Austin, speaking at the AUKUS meeting of defence ministers at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich alongside Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, warned there was “now a risk of all-out war” which he predicted would be “devastating for both Israel and Hezbollah”.

He called for a diplomatic solution, rather than the sides resorting to any military solution.

“So let me be clear, Israel and Lebanon can choose a different path, despite the sharp escalation in recent days, a diplomatic solution is still viable,” Mr Austin said.

Later, when asked about red lines in regards to US support for Israel, Mr Austin said the US would continue to provide military aid to Israel.

“We’ve been committed from the very beginning to help Israel, provide the things that are necessary for them to be able to protect their sovereign territory and that hasn’t changed and won’t change in the future,’’ he said.

Israel announced on Thursday the United States had provided an extra US $8.7m to help support its ongoing military efforts in the region.

Meanwhile Mr Marles told journalists that Australia had been preparing to act “on short notice” in regards to whether the government would be forced to assist Australian citizens fleeing Lebanon.

He said “we have preparations in place” but declined to give further details whether Australia was joining the British who have sent troops to Cyprus in preparedness to extricate any stranded British citizens using naval ships.

Mr Marles urged Australians still in Lebanon to “exercise your choice to leave’’, adding that if people wanted to leave “now is the time to exercise that choice” while there were commercial flights still available.