Netanyahu appears to downplay hopes for ceasefire

The Israeli prime minister appeared to downplay hopes of an imminent truce with Hezbollah on Thursday after the United States and its allies called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire to “provide space for diplomacy”.

In a statement released as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was en route to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, his office said there was only a proposal on the table and that he had not yet responded to it. The statement also denied that there had been any directive to ease up on fighting on the northern border with Lebanon.

The comments raised questions about a new international initiative to halt increasingly heavy exchanges of fire that have killed hundreds of people in Lebanon and threatened to trigger an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah. They came as Israel has threatened to launch a ground invasion into Lebanon to push the militant group away from the border and as an Israeli strike in Lebanon killed 23 people.

The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, had previously said the country would continue fighting “with all our might until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes”.

Hezbollah has also not yet responded to the proposal for a pause in fighting, although Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has welcomed it.

The Lebanese militant group has insisted it would only halt its strikes if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, where Israel has been battling Hamas for nearly a year. That appears out of reach despite months of negotiations led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.

In its statement, Netanyahu's office said “the fighting in Gaza will also continue until all the objectives of the war have been achieved”. Netanyahu is expected to meet with other world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.