Diplomats from the USA held a phone meeting with the media during the night, stating that intensive mediation has almost resulted in an agreement. Therefore, Washington believes that they will be able to reach an agreement so that the weapons can fall silent "within the coming hours", according to Sky News on Thursday morning.
However, from Israel's Prime Minister came entirely different tones. "It's about a proposal from the USA and France, which the Prime Minister hasn't even responded to", wrote Benjamin Netanyahu's aide. "The Prime Minister has instructed the defense to continue fighting with full force".
"There will be no ceasefire in the north", added Foreign Minister Israel Katz on X (Twitter).
"Not good"
This, in turn, caused Western diplomats participating in the peace efforts to react.
This looks like a deliberate attempt to harm the negotiations, says an anonymous official to Israeli Haaretz.
Our focus right now is to prevent a full-scale war that could cause thousands of deaths, says another source.
These statements are not good.
Netanyahu himself is currently in the USA, participating in the UN General Assembly. But back home in Israel, public opinion is deeply divided. Many demand continued military offensive to "crush" both the Hamas militia in the Gaza Strip and their allies Hezbollah in Lebanon. At the same time, relatives of hostages in Gaza are appealing for continued attempts at peace agreements.
We are very worried that if we don't make the right decision now, we will miss this great opportunity to get the hostages out, says Gil Dickmann, representative for the hostages' relatives, according to Haaretz.
Macron and Biden
Meanwhile, the attacks continue. On Thursday, Israel counted over 50 projectiles from Hezbollah across the border. At the same time, Israeli fighter jets struck targets in southern Lebanon.
Israel is also said to have attacked near the border with Syria in northeastern Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of over 20 workers, according to state media.
The proposal for a three-week ceasefire has been presented by the Presidents of France and the USA, Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden, with the support of several other major powers.
During the 21 days, the parties will negotiate a possible solution to the conflict that has been ongoing since Hezbollah attacked on October 8, 2023, and an agreement along the "blue line" (from previous wars in the area) that allows residents to return to their homes in both Lebanon and Israel, says a diplomat according to Sky News.
