Netanyahu: Israel opposed to unilateral Hezbollah ceasefire 

Israel is opposed to a unilateral ceasefire with the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon that does not address the security dangers facing Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.

“Israel is working against the terrorist organization Hezbollah so that it no longer threatens its citizens on the northern border and so those residents in the north can return home safely,” Netanyahu told Macron in a phone conversation, according to read out of the call from the Prime Minister’s office.

There are over 60,000 residents from Israel’s northern communities who have not been able to live in their homes for the last year safely. Creating a situation by which they can return home without fear of an October 7-style attack or relentless missile barrages on their communities has been one of the key goals of Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.

To achieve that goal, Hezbollah can no longer be perched on Israel’s border, Netanyahu told Macron.

Israel is “opposed to a unilateral ceasefire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was,” Netanyahu explained.

Netanyahu made it clear that Israel would not accept any ceasefire that “would not prevent Hezbollah from reorganizing and rearming,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Netanyahu expresses surprise

He also “expressed surprise” at Macron’s plan to hold an international conference in Lebanon that includes the participation of South Africa and Algeria, two countries that are arch-diplomatic foes of Israel.

Those countries, Netanyahu told Macron, “deny Israel the basic right to self-defense and, in fact, deny its right to exist.”

Macron, who views himself as a strong supporter of the Jewish state, has been a strong opponent of Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. He has called on the international community to issue an arms embargo against Israel. France also supported the UN General Assembly resolution that denied Israel’s right to self-defense.