Israel’s prime minister indicated that he “did not even respond” to proposals aimed at bringing about a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, as Israeli forces continued raining down air strikes on Lebanon.
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron published a joint statement calling for a 21-day truce, aimed at paving the way for broader negotiations for a permanent ceasefire.
Just hours later, however, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office rejected the idea.
“The news about a ceasefire - not true. This is an American-French proposal, to which the prime minister did not even respond,” his office said.
“The prime minister instructed the [Israeli army] to continue the fighting with full force, and according to the plans presented to them,” it said, adding that hostilities would continue in Gaza too.
Why should it feel a need to respond? This administration and congress have shown nothing but breathless support for every illegal and inhuman action they’ve taken and imposed exactly zero meaningful consequences for violating the few feckless ‘red lines’ Biden has feigned to impose. They have nearly complete ideological and/or monetary capture of the administration and congress, and the US professional media is salivating about having more wars to cover. Both presidential candidates have promised no change in policy. Furthermore, the international community seems to be largely unwilling to meaningfully intervene and challenge US hegemony.