Top Israeli ministers reject Lebanon ceasefire with Hezbollah

Two top Israeli ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government on Thursday rejected a proposal for a ceasefire in Lebanon and called for continuing the fight against Hezbollah.

The United States, European Union and other allies including several Arab states issued a joint call for a 21-day halt in fighting in Lebanon after Israeli air strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands in Lebanon this week.

The appeal for the three-week ceasefire came hours after Israeli military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, on Wednesday told soldiers to prepare for a possible ground offensive against Hezbollah.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key member of the cabinet, opposed the ceasefire proposal, insisting that continuing the war against Hezbollah was the only way forward.

Netanyahu's coalition relies on the support of Smotrich and other far-right members who consistently also opposed a truce in the Gaza war, which has not stopped.

"The campaign in the north should end with a single result: crushing Hezbollah and elimination of its ability to harm the residents of the north," Smotrich said on social media platform X.

"The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows it has suffered and reorganise itself to continue the war after 21 days," he said.

"Hezbollah's surrender or war -- this is the only way to bring back the residents and security to the north and the country."

In a separate statement on X, Foreign Minister Israel Katz also opposed any halt to fighting.

"There will be no ceasefire in the north. We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes," Katz said, referring to tens of thousands who have been displaced by nearly a year of cross-border clashes which escalated this week.

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Israel's main opposition leader Yair Lapid said the Israeli government should only agree to a seven-day ceasefire.

This would "prevent Hezbollah from restoring its command and control systems," Lapid said on X.

"We will not accept any proposal that does not include the withdrawal of Hezbollah from our northern border."

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has also been a strong advocate of continuing the war in Gaza, where Israeli forces have been battling Palestinian militants from the Islamist group Hamas since October 7.

The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, and Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon a day later in what it says is solidarity with Hamas.

Since then Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in fierce cross-border clashes, which worsened this week when Israel launched a withering bombing campaign in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah sites in the deadliest violence since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.