‘Dangerous error’ – Israeli officials slam potential Hezbollah ceasefire

Coalition ministers and local leaders vocally oppose pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

By World Israel News Staff

Reports claiming that a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is imminent have sparked serious backlash in Israel, as officials voice their opposition to the potential pause in the fighting.

Senior Biden administration officials told Sky News that they expected an official acceptance of the proposal, which would see both parties lay down their arms for at least 21 days, “within hours.”

Several members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition responded with outrage to the proposed deal, which American officials hinted had been green-lighted by the prime minister.

“The campaign in the north should end in one scenario — crushing Hezbollah, denying its ability to harm the residents of the north,” wrote Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on social media platform X.

“The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows it received and to reorganize for the continuation of the war after 21 days,” he added.

Culture Minister Miki Zohar, who is a close ally of Netanyahu, told Hebrew-language media that he hoped reports about a ceasefire were “not true.”

A pause in the military campaign against Hezbollah, Zohar said, would be “a serious error that endangers Israel’s major security achievements in recent days.”

David Azoulay, the mayor of Metula, a town adjacent to the Lebanese border where some 50 percent of the houses have been damaged by Hezbollah’s near-daily rockets, missiles, and explosive drones, warned that a ceasefire would pave the way “for the next October 7th.”

Azoulay stressed that “without decisively defeating” Hezbollah, the terror group still poses a tremendous risk to residents of the community.

“There is a time for negotiations, but this is not the time,” said Upper Galilee Regional Council’s chairman Amir Sofer.

“We must not be misled by international pressure,” he added.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he was convening an “urgent meeting” of his Religious Zionism party members to discuss next steps, should the reports of the ceasefire be true.

Netanyahu is currently en route to New York to speak at the UN General Assembly. His office refused to comment on the reports of an emerging ceasefire.