Reuters reports: “Israel rejected proposals on Thursday for a ceasefire with Hezbollah, defying allies including the United States which had called for an immediate three-week halt in fighting to allow for diplomacy to avert a wider war.

‘There will be no ceasefire in the north,’ Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X. ‘We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organization with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.’

The comments dashed hopes for a swift settlement, after Prime Minister Najib Mikati had expressed hope that a ceasefire could be reached soon in Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes seeking safety.

World leaders voiced concern that the conflict – running in parallel to Israel’s war in Gaza – was escalating rapidly.

The heaviest fighting in nearly two decades between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has raised fears of a new Israeli ground offensive across the Lebanese-Israeli frontier…”