Israel-Lebanon latest: Britain joins 21-day ceasefire as Netanyahu orders military to fight in full force

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had not yet responded to US and French proposals for a ceasefire.

The bombing campaign in southern Lebanon continues, with more than 600 people in Lebanon killed so far, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Netanyahu has instructed the military to continue fighting with force for now, Reuters reported the news agency.

He added that the war in Gaza will continue until Israel achieves its war aims.

The mother of an English teacher in Beirut has expressed her “relief” at her son’s escape from Lebanon.

Charlie Peters, 24, from Highgate in north London, works in a Syrian refugee camp in the Lebanese capital and has fled the country after the British government urged Britons to leave.

His mother, Nicola, said: “I have been three days with jitters and jumping and do not really want to see the news, but also have to see the news, and it is really difficult.

“All those stages, ‘Are you at the airport? Did you get your boarding pass? Are you at the gate?’ Because you are waiting for news like that through the airport shot.

“What Charlie wants is that he doesn’t want to be evacuated

“He was like, ‘we’re getting close to an emergency evacuation here. I don’t want to be the one left out until it’s my choice.’

Nicola said her son had to struggle with the decision to leave Lebanon.

“What you have to understand for the people who work in this refugee camp system is that you leave people with no choice,” he said.

Charlie expects to arrive at London Heathrow this afternoon.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Israel had “crossed all red lines” and called on the UN Security Council to “intervene to restore peace and security”.

Araghchi said the region was on the brink of a “full-scale disaster” and that “Israeli attacks on Lebanon must stop”.

He also said that Iran supports Hezbollah for the “just cause” of defending Lebanon against Israel’s “atrocities” and “occupation”.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has expressed hope that a ceasefire can be reached soon to end the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that has rocked his country and raised fears of a ground invasion.

The US, France and several allies called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire on the Israel-Lebanon border while also expressing support for a cease-fire in Gaza after intensive talks at the United Nations on Wednesday.

Mikati accepted the ceasefire call but said the key to its implementation was whether Israel, which has moved troops closer to Lebanon, committed to implementing international resolutions.

Asked if a ceasefire could be reached soon, Mikati told Reuters: “I hope, yes.”

Scotland’s First Minister said the situation in the Middle East caused her “deepest concern” as she called for a ceasefire in the region.

British citizens have been urged to leave Lebanon after Israel launched a series of airstrikes earlier this week.

The UK has joined the US, France and other allies in calling for an immediate temporary ceasefire in Lebanon, warning the escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah “cannot be tolerated”.

Writing in X, John Swinney said: “The worsening situation in the Middle East is a cause of the deepest concern.

“It is important that there is a binding ceasefire now to end the suffering in Gaza and to act to avoid escalating the conflict in Lebanon.”

Israel is preparing for a potential ground invasion of Lebanon, its army chief said Wednesday, as US president Joe Biden admitted an “all-out war” was possible and Sir Keir Starmer urged British citizens to leave the area immediately.

Airstrikes in Lebanon laid the groundwork for a possible operation to push Hezbollah back and “safely return” displaced Israelis, Israeli army general Lt. General Herzi Halevi.

He told troops on Israel’s northern border that the military was “preparing a maneuver process, which means your military boots, your maneuver shoes, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as a large military post”.

Read the full report here:

We’re hearing more on the ground about the impact of the overnight attack by Israel on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon this morning.

Reuters news agency has spoken to the mayor of the town of Younine, who said at least 23 people, all Syrians, were killed in the attack on the three-storey building.

Mayor Ali Qusas added that eight others had been injured.

As the Israeli military announced that it had struck 75 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, images have emerged showing smoke rising into the sky from the affected areas.

Just after reporting on the US, UK and other allies calling for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel this morning claimed it had hit its target of 75 in Lebanon overnight.

On X, the Israel Defense Forces account issued a statement on Thursday morning.

It reads: “Approx. 75 Hezbollah terrorist targets in the Beqaa region and in southern Lebanon were attacked by the IDF overnight. The targets included weapons storage facilities, ready-to-fire launchers, terrorists, and terrorist infrastructure.