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Amid International Pressure, Top Israeli Leaders Say ‘There Will Be No Ceasefire’ With Hezbollah
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon, Sept. 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Top Israeli leaders have indicated they will not agree to a ceasefire with the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon amid the international community’s push for one.
“There will be no ceasefire in the north,” Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz posted on X/Twitter on Thursday. “We will continue to fight against the terrorist organization Hezbollah with all our might until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a similar stance after he landed in New York on Thursday to address the UN General Assembly the following day.
“Our policy is clear: We continue to hit Hezbollah with all our might,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“We will not stop until we achieve all of our goals, first of all returning the residents of the north safely to their homes,” the Israeli premier added. “This is the policy, and no one should make a mistake about that.”
Hezbollah has been pummeling northern Israeli communities almost daily with barrages of drones, rockets, and missiles from its stronghold of Lebanon, which borders the Jewish state, since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas invaded Israel from neighboring Gaza to the south on Oct. 7.
More than 60,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel and flee to other parts of the country amid the unrelenting attacks from Hezbollah, which wields significant political and military influence across Lebanon.
The conflict has escalated over the past week, with both sides increasing the scale and intensity of their strikes.
Israeli leaders have said for months they seek a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon but are prepared to use large-scale military force if needed to ensure all citizens can safely return to their homes. Last week, Israel’s security cabinet expanded its war goals to include returning the displaced Israelis from the north.
Amid the major uptick in military strikes over the past several days, the US under the Biden administration and France have spearheaded an international push to stop the hostilities.
The subject of a ceasefire was reportedly not mentioned in Israel’s political-security cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
“The direction is that we are not going to a ceasefire in Lebanon now but to continue fighting against Hezbollah,” a member of Netanyahu’s entourage told reporters, according to Israeli media reports. “We remain committed to returning the residents in the north to their homes.”
However, several countries have been aggressively pushing for a ceasefire this week. A joint statement by the US, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Qatar released on Wednesday read: “It is time to conclude a diplomatic settlement that enables civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes in safety.”
“Diplomacy however cannot succeed amid an escalation of this conflict,” it continued. “Thus we call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement consistent with UNSCR [UN Security Council Resolution] 1701, and the implementation of UNSCR 2735 regarding a ceasefire in Gaza.”
UNSCR 1701 required the disarmament of Hezbollah. However, since then, Iran’s chief proxy force has built up its weapons arsenal to threaten Israel, and the terrorist group has shown no indications it is willing to consider disarming.
Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah have been ongoing since Oct. 8, when Hezbollah began its bombardment of northern Israel. However, Hezbollah has tied its willingness to agree to a cessation of hostilities to an end of the war against Hamas in Gaza — which has stifled negotiations.
Netanyahu’s reaction to the push for a ceasefire may have come as a surprise to some American officials. Journalist Barack Ravid, reporting for Walla, wrote that Netanyahu “was involved in formulating” the temporary ceasefire proposal, but backed out “after the threats from the far-right ministers in the government and the attacks from the opposition.”
Reportedly, in a Monday call, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer agreed with an American counterpart that “a temporary ceasefire was the right thing to do and that the US would aim to publicize the ceasefire initiative.”
Originally, Netanyahu was reportedly amenable to such a deal because according to a source knowledgeable of the talks, “he does not want to be dragged into a ground invasion that could lead to entanglement and erode the achievements that the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has achieved so far.”
However, some reports have indicated that Netanyahu had initially expressed a willingness to agree to a ceasefire if Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was willing to accept such a deal as well, knowing the terror chief would not do so. But, according to the reports, US officials nonetheless indicated that the Israeli premier was fully on board with the ceasefire in a bid to exert media and diplomatic pressure to compel him to accept it.
The post Amid International Pressure, Top Israeli Leaders Say ‘There Will Be No Ceasefire’ With Hezbollah first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US House Members Ask Marco Rubio to Bar Turkey From Rejoining F-35 Program
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers is pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law.
Members of Congress on Thursday warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia. The letter pointed to Ankara’s 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, despite repeated US warnings, as the central reason Turkey was expelled from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The S-400 poses a direct threat to US aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35,” the lawmakers wrote. “If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence.”
The group of signatories, spanning both parties, stressed that Turkey still possesses the Russian weapons systems and has shown “no willingness to comply with US law.” They urged Rubio and the Trump administration to uphold the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and maintain Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 program until the S-400s are fully removed.
The letter comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington have begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Lawmakers argued that reversing course now would undermine both US credibility and allied confidence in American defense commitments. They also warned it could disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet announced by the administration earlier this year.
“This is not a partisan issue,” the letter emphasized. “We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten US interests.”
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US Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Investigate Whether Irish Bill Targeting Israel Violates Anti-Boycott Law
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A group of US lawmakers is calling on the Treasury Department to investigate and potentially penalize Ireland over proposed legislation targeting Israeli goods, warning that the move could trigger sanctions under longstanding US anti-boycott laws.
In a letter sent on Thursday to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 16 Republican members of Congress expressed “serious concerns” about Ireland’s recent legislative push to ban trade with territories under Israeli administration, including the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), called for the US to “send a clear signal” that any attempts to economically isolate Israel will “carry consequences.”
The Irish measure, introduced by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris, seeks to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from what the legislation refers to as “occupied Palestinian territories,” including Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Supporters say the bill aligns with international law and human rights principles, while opponents, including the signatories of the letter, characterize it as a direct extension of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as a step toward the destruction of the world’s lone Jewish state.
Some US lawmakers have also described the Irish bill as an example of “antisemitic hate” that could risk hurting relations between Dublin and Washington.
“Such policies not only promote economic discrimination but also create legal uncertainty for US companies operating in Ireland,” the lawmakers wrote in this week’s letter, urging Bessent to determine whether Ireland’s actions qualify as participation in an “unsanctioned international boycott” under Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Ribicoff Amendment.
Under that statute, the Treasury Department is required to maintain a list of countries that pressure companies to comply with international boycotts not sanctioned by the US. Inclusion on the list carries tax-reporting burdens and possible penalties for American firms and individuals doing business in those nations.
“If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list,” the letter said, arguing that such a step would help protect US companies from legal exposure and reaffirm American opposition to economic efforts aimed at isolating Israel.
Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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US Families File Lawsuit Accusing UNRWA of Supporting Hamas, Hezbollah
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
American families of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have filed a lawsuit against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing the organization of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing material support to the Islamist terror groups behind the deadly assaults.
Last week, more than 200 families filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC district court accusing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing funding and support to Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA employs staff with direct ties to the Iran-backed terror group, including individuals allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against the Jewish state.
However, UNRWA has firmly denied the allegations, labeling them as “baseless” and condemning the lawsuit as “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.”
According to the organization, the lawsuit is part of a wider campaign of “misinformation and lawfare” targeting its work in the Gaza Strip, where it says Palestinians are enduring “mass, deliberate and forced starvation.”
The UN agency reports that more than 150,000 donors across the United States have supported its programs providing food, medical aid, education, and trauma assistance in the war-torn enclave amid the ongoing conflict.
In a press release, UNRWA USA affirmed that it will continue its humanitarian efforts despite facing legal challenges aimed at undermining its work.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement read.
Last year, Israeli security documents revealed that of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza, 440 were actively involved in Hamas’s military operations, with 2,000 registered as Hamas operatives.
According to these documents, at least nine UNRWA employees took part directly in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials also uncovered a large Hamas data center beneath UNRWA headquarters, with cables running through the facility above, and found that Hamas also stored weapons in other UNRWA sites.
The UN agency has also aligned with Hamas in efforts against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices.
These Israeli intelligence documents also revealed that a senior Hamas leader, killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, had served as the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, where Lebanon is based,
UNRWA’s education programs have been found by IMPACT-se, an international organization that monitors global education, to contribute to the radicalization of younger generations of Palestinians.