Israel is inflicting ‘unimagined blows’ on Hezbollah, Netanyahu says while US pushes for ceasefire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday reiterated that Israel would not stop fighting until the safe return of Israel’s northern residents. The U.S. has begun to ramp up the pressure behind the scenes to reach a quick ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

“I can’t lay go into detail on everything we’re doing,” Netanyahu said in a short video statement on Wednesday evening, “but I can tell you one thing – we are determined to return our residents home safely.”

“We are landing blows on Hezbollah that it never imagined. We are doing it with strength, we are doing it with ruses. I can promise you one thing – we will not rest until they return home.”

The Biden administration has reportedly been working feverishly to prevent a further escalation that it fears could drag the entire Middle East into a regional war.

“An all-out war is possible, but I think there’s also the opportunity – we’re still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region,” U.S. President Joe Biden told ABC's program, “The View.”

Netanyahu has reportedly given an Israeli team, led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the green light to engage in negotiations regarding a truce.

“We are nearing a fork in the road for decisions on where the war is going,” according to an unnamed Israeli official cited by Israeli media, amid numerous, partly contradictory, reports on the course of the negotiations.

On Wednesday, the IDF continued heavy bombardments of Hezbollah targets, while preparing for a possible ground invasion in the future. Channel 13 News reported that the Cabinet was set to give Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant the authority to decide whether to order a ground offensive.

A political source told Israel Hayom, “Israel insists on the implementation of Resolution 1701, it will not compromise on it, nor will it agree to a temporary ceasefire,” adding that Israel doesn’t see any chance of a truce in the next few days.

A source close to Netanyahu told Ynet News that "the red line of Prime Minister and Dermer is to kick Hezbollah beyond the Litani [River]. At the moment there are no negotiations."

On the other hand, Lebanese news site LBCI reported that there was already “significant progress” and the talks had reached “a serious and advanced stage,” hinting that the first results could be seen as early as Thursday.

According to KAN News, a first outline was set to be presented to Israel and Hezbollah by the U.S., France and Great Britain.

“These are intensive talks. Quite a few ideas have been brought up - and the goal is to produce an outline that the US will present to the parties,” a source told KAN.

The U.S. aims to integrate talks on a truce in Lebanon with negotiations for a hostage and ceasefire agreement with Hamas in Gaza into a single initiative, according to Reuters.

A diplomatic source at the American Embassy in Beirut told the Qatari newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed: “We still believe that total war can be prevented, despite everything that has happened, but there are points that cannot be resolved now and require time.”

“The US is working to reach a long-term solution regarding the situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon, and talks are now underway for the post-ceasefire phase in Gaza.”