Israel's Netanyahu says troops will keep fighting Hezbollah "with full force" as U.S., France propose cease-fire
CBSN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office deflected international calls for a cease-fire with Hezbollah Thursday, hours after President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement calling for them to back a temporary truce proposal with wide international support. The U.S. and French leaders called Wednesday on both sides in the high-stakes standoff to back the proposal, but neither had indicated any support by Thursday, and the exchange of deadly fire continued.
"This is an American-French proposal that the Prime Minister has not even responded to," Netanyahu's office said Thursday, adding a dismissal of a separate report suggesting the Israeli leader had told his military to "moderate" its assault on Hezbollah to give space for discussion about a possible cease-fire.
"The report about the purported directive to ease up on the fighting in the north is the opposite of the truth," Netanyahu's office said. "The Prime Minister has directed the IDF to continue fighting with full force."
Warsaw, Poland — European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday pledged billions of euros in aid for Central European countries that suffered enormous damage to infrastructure and housing during the massive flooding that has so far claimed 24 lives in the region. Von der Leyen paid a quick visit to a flood-damaged area in southeast Poland and met with heads of the governments of the affected countries — Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
TEL AVIV, Israel — The recent attacks targeting Hezbollah members with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon may seem to be the stuff of spy novels, but the impact and implications of the complex operations blamed on Israel are very real. Lebanese officials said at least 30 people were killed and some 3,000 wounded by the explosions, and the chief of Hezbollah acknowledged Thursday that the Iran-backed militant group had taken a serious blow.
Washington — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to be among just a small handful of global political leaders to meet with both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump next week as dignitaries travel to the United States for a series of global-themed events amid the ongoing American presidential election.