Too soon for a truce? Israel downplays push for ceasefire with Hezbollah

The Debate

Ceasefire or all-out war? While Israel's prime minister headed to UN Week in New York, his office stated that Binyamin Netanyahu had not even started considering a Franco-American plan for a 21-day truce with Hezbollah. Word of the plan was greeted with immediate pushback from hawks within Netanyahu's right-wing cabinet.

As Israeli jets continue to pound Lebanon, as top brass talk up the potential for a ground invasion, Hezbollah and its main backer Iran are more circumspect: they are still reeling from last week's exploding electronic devices and the killing of three of the militant group's top commanders. They would gladly consider an all-in-one US plan to wind up fighting both in Gaza and on Lebanon's border.

The question remains: what are Israel's goals going forward? Has it weakened Hezbollah enough? Has it restored an aura of regional might that first teetered with its inconclusive 2006 war with Hezbollah and then shattered last October 7 when Hamas attacked from Gaza? Can a prime minister who probably faces an inquiry over Gaza when the guns go silent keep up a perpetual state of war? And is Lebanon doomed to forever remain a battleground for all the region's proxy wars?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Mélissa Kalaydjian.