On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron urged the United States to exert pressure on Israel to agree to the ceasefire plan that he and US President Joe Biden proposed, which entails a 21-day pause in hostilities in Lebanon, as reported by Reuters.
During his visit to Canada, Macron cautioned that an Israeli military invasion of Lebanon would represent a significant error.
The call for a ceasefire was articulated in a statement released on Wednesday by Biden and Macron, with backing from several nations, including Australia, Canada, the European Union, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
After arriving in New York for his speech at the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with reporters, stating, “My policy, our policy, is clear: we continue to strike Hezbollah with full force. We will not stop until we reach our goals and above all the return of the residents of the north to their homes. That is the policy, and may no one be mistaken.”
Prior to this, Netanyahu’s office responded to speculation regarding a potential ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, asserting, “The reports of a ceasefire are not true. This is a French-American initiative that the Prime Minister has not even responded to.”
They added, “The reports of an instruction to moderate the fighting in the north is also the opposite of the truth. The Prime Minister instructed the IDF to continue the fighting with full force, and according to the plans presented to him. As well, the fighting in Gaza will continue until all of the goals of the war are achieved.”
Macron expressed to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that there remains an opportunity for Netanyahu to endorse the proposed plan.
“And I do believe that the US now has to increase the pressure on the prime minister of Israel to do so,” he said. He further stated that if Netanyahu declined the offer, France would bring the matter before the United Nations Security Council.
“We wait for all the partners to be very vocal and committed with us in order to send this clear message: Israel cannot invade Lebanon today. War is not possible in Lebanon today; it would be a huge mistake, a huge risk of escalation,” he emphasized.
Earlier, Macron told a news conference in Montreal that he believed Israeli officials’ statements regarding the ceasefire were not conclusive.
Before the ceasefire proposal was made public on Wednesday, Macron addressed the UN General Assembly, urging an end to Israeli “escalation” in Lebanon and the rocket attacks by Hezbollah targeting Israel.
“We urge Israel to cease this escalation in Lebanon, and to Hezbollah to cease these missile launches to Israel. We urge all of those who provide (Hezbollah) with the means to do so to stop doing so,” stated the French President.
“Israel can’t, without consequence, just expand its operations to Lebanon,” Macron added, stressing, “We can’t have a war in Lebanon.”
{Matzav.com}