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Israeli Cabinet minister rejects ceasefire, says Lebanon ‘should be Israel’s playground’

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Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on January 24, 2023 [Saeed Qaq/Anadolu Agency]

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called Monday for rejecting any ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, saying the Arab country “should be Israel’s playground,” as opposition leader Avigdor Lieberman called a US-Iran agreement “the biggest political disaster” since Israel’s creation.

“Israel cannot agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon,” Ben-Gvir told Israel’s public broadcaster KAN in an interview.

He urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convey Israel’s rejection of any ceasefire in Lebanon to US President Donald Trump.

“Trump is a true friend, and we must treat him politely and embrace him, but we need to tell him that we cannot agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon,” Ben-Gvir said.

“We are the ones making decisions, and there are good results for our soldiers,” he added.

His opposition comes amid growing disputes within Israeli political and security circles over a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran and their possible implications for ending the war on the Lebanese front.

READ: Israeli army won’t withdraw from occupied territory in southern Lebanon, defense minister says

“The agreement between Iran and the US is the biggest political disaster since the establishment of the state,” Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu party, said on US social media company X.

“We must act in accordance with Israeli interests and not in accordance with fuel prices on world stock exchanges,” he added, in reference to what experts view as one of the motives behind Trump’s push to end the Iran war.

Israel and Lebanon are set to hold a fifth round of direct negotiations in Washington on Tuesday. The upcoming talks follow four previous rounds between the two sides that began in April as part of a track aimed at ending the Israeli war in Lebanon.

The US-mediated negotiations come as criticism grows inside Israel over Washington’s handling of talks with Iran and Hezbollah.

The Israeli news site i24NEWS, citing Israeli officials, said Tel Aviv fears that an agreement between the US and Iran could strengthen Tehran and its allies in the region.

The officials claimed the Trump administration and its negotiating team “misunderstands the ideology driving Tehran and Hezbollah.”

“Trump doesn’t speak Shia,” they said, in reference to what they claim is a failure to understand the nature of Iran’s system and Hezbollah.

On Saturday, i24NEWS quoted unnamed senior Israeli officials as saying: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed ministers to avoid personal attacks on Trump.”

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 4,100 people and injured over 12,000 others since March 2, according to official Lebanese figures.

Israel continues to occupy areas in southern Lebanon, some held for decades and others seized during the 2023–2024 war.

READ: Israel plans to reduce forces in southern Lebanon under US pressure ahead of Lebanese army deployment

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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