Netanyahu now says he "shares the goals" of the truce proposed by the US

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moderated his speech upon arriving on American soil, where he will address the UN General Assembly this Friday afternoon. On Thursday night (early Friday morning in Spain), he said that he "shares the goals" of the initiative led by the United States and France to achieve a temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah. Twenty-four hours earlier, he had stated the opposite and advocated using all force to combat the Shiite militia. On Wednesday, he had given his approval to Washington.

Therefore, the Prime Minister's Office was forced to issue a "clarification" after statements from the United States and France that Israel had guaranteed it would support the 21-day truce proposed by Washington and Paris.

The Israeli and American teams met on Thursday night to analyze the initiative and decide how they could "move towards the shared goal of getting people safely back to their homes." The initiative also aims to allow time for an agreement on hostage release and a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel is fighting against the terrorist group Hamas, and to negotiate an agreement between Israel and Hezbollah that would see the Iran-backed group withdraw its forces from Israel's northern border, in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution.

"Due to the large amount of misinformation about the US-led ceasefire initiative, it is important to clarify some points. Earlier this week, the United States communicated to Israel its intention to present, along with other international and regional partners, a ceasefire proposal in Lebanon," said the Prime Minister's Office.

"Israel shares the goals of the US-led initiative to allow people along our northern border to safely return to their homes," it added, reiterating the country's war objective, which it has invoked amid renewed offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Both the United States and France made it clear in statements on Thursday that Netanyahu had privately agreed to the ceasefire plan but then rejected it amid negative reactions in his country. They expressed surprise and disappointment at Israel's rejection.

While heading to New York for the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Netanyahu denied that he had responded to or approved the ceasefire proposal, although a senior Western diplomat told 'The Times of Israel' that the Prime Minister and his advisors had been closely involved in drafting the joint US-French statement announcing the initiative.

"We continue attacking Hezbollah with all our might and will not stop until we achieve all our goals, primarily ensuring that residents of the north return safely to their homes," said the Prime Minister upon landing in New York.

The Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, one of Netanyahu's top advisors, met on Thursday with US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, US National Security Council Middle East Czar, amid controversy. He also met that afternoon with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In their meeting, Blinken reiterated to Dermer that the Biden administration believes an Israeli escalation against Hezbollah will only make it harder to achieve the goal of returning evacuated Israelis to their homes along the northern border.

"A diplomatic agreement will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return home... further escalation of conflict will only make that goal harder," Blinken told Dermer, according to a US statement.

Blinken also discussed ongoing efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, which has been stalled for over a month, and reviewed measures Israel must take to improve humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza while reiterating US commitment to Israel's security, said the State Department.