Live Updates: Israel-Hezbollah attacks continue after US, France urge 21-day cease-fire
The United States and France have led a joint call for a temporary cease-fire across the Israel-Lebanon border.
The fate of a 21-day cease-fire proposal between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah remains unclear after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israeli forces to continue strikes on Lebanon “with full force” on Thursday.
Netanyahu’s office denied earlier reports that a cease-fire proposed by the United States and France would enter into force within hours, stressing that the premier “did not even respond.” Hard-liners in Netanyahu’s government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also rejected the truce proposal. Hezbollah has yet to comment on the truce deal.
Since Monday, the Israeli military has intensified and widened the scope of its airstrikes across Lebanon against Hezbollah targets. Nearly 700 people have been killed so far, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, and more than 2,300 others have been wounded. In response, Hezbollah has fired a barrage of rockets over the border, launching over 180 rockets toward Israel on Thursday alone. The escalation has also led to a massive wave of displacement from the southern and eastern parts of the country. According to Lebanon's Disaster Risk Management Unit, more than 77,000 people are currently in 565 designated shelters.
An Israeli Black Hawk helicopter flies over the Mediterranean bay of Israel's northern city of Haifa on Sept. 26, 2024. (JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)