Israeli military prepares for possible ground incursion in Lebanon | CNN

Right-wing Israeli ministers on Thursday expressed indignation at reports that the United States is pushing for a weeks-long ceasefire in Lebanon, and the silence from their own prime minister.

Wednesday brought the most explicit threat yet of a ground incursion in Lebanon. The Israeli military’s Chief of the General Staff, Herzi Halevi, told troops in the north that airstrikes in Lebanon were intended “to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on the ceasefire reports carried by CNN and others.

But, notably, he has not denied them as he flies to to speak at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where a confluence of world leaders could provide a forum for negotiations.

Here’s how some of the ministers have responded:

• Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: “The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows he received and to reorganize for the continuation of the war after 21 days.”

• Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party said it would convene an “urgent meeting” today – an implicit threat to Netanyahu’s fragile governing coalition.

• Minister Orit Strock warned that “there is no moral mandate for a ceasefire. Not for 21 days. And not for 21 hours.”

• Even the head of the opposition, Yair Lapid, said that while a shorter ceasefire could make sense, “we will not accept any proposal that does not include removing Hezbollah from our northern border.”

• Culture Minister Miki Zohar, from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said that a ceasefire could be a “serious error.”