Extract from ABC News
Benjamin Netanyahu's office says he has instructed the IDF to "continue fighting with full force". (Pool via Reuters: Ohad Zwigenberg)
In short:
A group of countries, including the United States, France, and Australia, have called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border to provide space for diplomacy.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati has publicly thrown his support behind the plan, which he said "would put an end to this dirty war".
What's next?
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says reports of an imminent ceasefire are incorrect, saying he "did not even respond" to the ceasefire proposal and has instructed the IDF to keep fighting with full force.
Concerns are growing among international observers of a possible Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon, reports Allyson Horn.
Ceasefire proposed by Western and Arab nations
The rejected ceasefire proposal, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the recent fighting in the Middle East was "intolerable", and presented "an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation".
The proposal did not include an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but senior US officials said they were looking to use a pause in fighting to restart stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
"We call for an immediate 21-day cease-fire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy," the countries' joint statement said.
"We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately."
Sarah Ferguson speaks to 7.30's Adam Harvey about the likelihood of a ceasefire taking place in Lebanon. (Adam Harvey)
The nations calling for a ceasefire included the US and France, as well as Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The deal crystallised late on Wednesday afternoon during a conversation on the sidelines of the General Assembly between US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, according to US officials.
Work on the proposal progressed quickly this week with Mr Biden’s national security team — led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan — talking with allies to get the deal together.
The deal crystallised during a conversation between Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron. (Reuters: Yves Herman)
Robert Wood, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, had encouraged the UN Security Council to support the diplomatic efforts, but didn't offer specifics about the plan.
"We are working with other countries on a proposal that we hope will lead to calm and enable discussions to a diplomatic solution," he said.
The ceasefire made reference to the Israel-Lebanon "Blue Line" — the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel — according to senior US officials.
The officials said Hezbollah would not be a signatory to the ceasefire, but they believed the government of Lebanon would be able to coordinate its acceptance with the group.
Netanyahu's ceasefire rejection surprises US
US officials said they had expected Israel to "welcome" the proposal, and perhaps formally accept it when Mr Netanyahu spoke at the UN General Assembly on Friday.
What is Israel's long-term goal in the Hezbollah conflict?
An Israeli official earlier said Mr Netanyahu had given the green light to negotiators to pursue a possible deal, but only if it included the return of Israeli civilians to their homes.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
However, the statement from Mr Netanyahu's office on Thursday made it clear he had rejected the proposal entirely.
"The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. This is an American-French proposal, to which the prime minister did not even respond," the statement said.
"The news about the so-called directive 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.
"Likewise, the fighting in Gaza will also continue until all the goals of the war are achieved."
US hopes may have been raised when Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, earlier told journalists that Israel would like to see a ceasefire and the return of people to their homes near the border.
"It will happen, either after a war or before a war. We hope it will be before," he said.
Addressing the Security Council late on Wednesday night, he made no mention of negotiations on a ceasefire but said Israel "does not seek a full-scale war".
Mr Mikati called on the Security Council to guarantee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon. (AFP: The Yomiuri Shimbun)
Both Mr Danon and Mr Mikati had also reaffirmed their governments' commitment to a Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war in Lebanon.
Never fully implemented, it called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon to be replaced by Lebanese forces and UN peacekeepers, and the disarmament of all armed groups including Hezbollah.
Mr Danon also told the Security Council that Iran was the nexus of violence in the region and peace required dismantling the threat.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters before the council meeting that his country supported Hezbollah and would not remain indifferent if the conflict in Lebanon spiralled.
Syrians killed in latest deadly air strike
The ceasefire proposal was put forth and rejected against a backdrop of continued violence in the region, with Israeli air strikes overnight hitting about 75 Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and ready-to-fire launchers, according to the IDF.
Israel and Hezbollah continued trading strikes on Wednesday. (AFP: Rabih Daher)
In the latest deadly strike, at least 23 Syrians, mostly women and children, were killed when Israel hit a three-story building in the Lebanese town of Younine, the town's mayor, Ali Qusas, told Reuters.
Lebanon is home to around 1.5 million Syrians who have fled the Syrian civil war.
At least 72 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday, according to a Reuters compilation of Lebanese health ministry statements.
Around 45 projectiles were also fired from Lebanon towards the western Galilee area, some of which were intercepted with the rest falling on open ground, the IDF said.
ABC/Wires
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