Netanyahu opposes ceasefire deal that would not halt Hezbollah from rearming

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Oct 15 that he told French President Emmanuel Macron he would not agree to a ceasefire deal that failed to stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping.

Mr Macron has called for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, as well as an end to arms exports used in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

“The Prime Minister told President Macron that he opposes a unilateral ceasefire, which would not change the security situation in Lebanon and would return the country to its previous state,” a statement from his office said.

“He emphasised that Israel is operating against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation to prevent it from threatening Israel’s citizens on the northern border and to enable them to return to their homes safely.”

On Oct 14, France rejected demands made by Mr Netanyahu for a

UN peacekeeping mission, known as Unifil, to pull back from its position in Lebanon.

France has also summoned Israel’s ambassador over an incident where Israeli troops opened fire at three positions held by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

Mr Netanyahu, his office said, was taken aback at Mr Macron’s intention to host a conference in Paris on the issue of Lebanon, with participants such as South Africa and Algeria, “which are working to deny Israel its fundamental right of self-defence and, in effect, reject its very right to exist”.

In a message to Mr Macron, Mr Netanyahu’s office also said that the State of Israel was established through “the War of Independence with the blood of our heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors, including from the Vichy regime in France”.

It added that in recent decades, the United Nations has approved hundreds of anti-Semitic resolutions against Israel. REUTERS