Austin backs push for cease-fire in Lebanon, says diplomacy solely solution to keep away from greater battle
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday voiced his support for a temporary, three-week cease-fire proposal being pushed by U.S. and French diplomats that would allow for negotiations to try to curb the growing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Speaking on a visit to London Thursday, Mr. Austin said a diplomatic solution is the only way to ensure that displaced civilians on both sides of the border between Israel and Lebanon will be able to return to their homes.
“Tens of thousands of Israeli and Lebanese civilians still cannot safely return home, and we now face the risk of an all-out war — another full-scale war which could be devastating for both Israel and Lebanon,” Mr. Austin said. “I echo the call of President Biden and [French President Emmanuel Macron] and other leaders yesterday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire.”
The joint statement was negotiated on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. It said the recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, including escalating missile strikes across the border and numerous Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and other sites deep inside Lebanon, was “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.”
Mr. Austin said the cease-fire would provide time for negotiators to craft a more durable diplomatic agreement that would allow Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return home. He said that a temporary halt in the fighting in Lebanon could also be used to implement a deal to secure a cease-fire in Gaza, where Israeli forces are still battling Palestinian Hamas fighters.
“All parties should seize this opportunity. It can bring much-needed calm to Israelis, Lebanese and Palestinians whose lives have been turned upside down since the Hamas assault on October 7,” Mr. Austin said.
Hezbollah has said it will halt its barrages if Israel and Hamas reach a peace deal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in New York this week to address the U.N. General Assembly, has pushed back against the cease-fire proposal covering both Lebanon and Gaza. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said there would be no cease-fire in the north, where Hezbollah has heavily armed forces on its side of the Lebanese-Israeli border.
“We will continue to fight against the terrorist organization Hezbollah with all our might until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” Mr. Katz said Thursday on X.
