What obstacles stand in the way of an Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire?

Israel and Hezbollah each have strong incentives to heed international calls for a cease-fire that could avert all-out war — but that doesn't mean they will.

Hezbollah is reeling after a sophisticated attack on personal devices killed and wounded hundreds of its members. Israeli airstrikes have killed two top commanders in Beirut in less than a week, and warplanes have pounded what Israel says are Hezbollah sites across large parts of Lebanon, killing over 600 people.

So far, Israel clearly has the upper hand militarily, which could make it less willing to compromise. But it's unlikely to achieve its goal of halting Hezbollah rocket fire with air power alone, and a threatened ground invasion of Lebanon poses major risks.

After nearly a year of war, Israeli troops are still fighting Hamas in Gaza. And Hezbollah is a much more formidable force.

“Hezbollah has yet to employ 10% of its capabilities,” military affairs correspondent Yossi Yehoshua wrote in Yediot Ahronot, Israel's largest daily newspaper. “The euphoria that is evident among the decision-makers and some of the public should be placed back in the attic: the situation is still complex and flammable.”

The United States and its allies, including Gulf Arab countries, have tried to offer a way out, proposing an immediate 21-day cease-fire to “provide space for diplomacy.”

But any deal would require both sides to back away from their core demands, and they may decide the price is too high.

Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into northern Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in the south triggered the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allies of Iran, and the Lebanese militant group says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians.

Israel has responded with waves of airstrikes. Overall, the fighting has killed dozens of people in Israel, more than 1,000 in Lebanon and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from communities on both sides of the border.

Hezbollah has said it will halt the attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza. But months of negotiations over Gaza led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled, and Hamas might be less motivated to reach a deal if it thinks Hezbollah and Iran will join a wider war against Israel.

For Hezbollah, halting its rocket fire without securing any tangible gains for the Palestinians would be seen as a capitulation to Israeli pressure, with all of its recent casualties suffered in vain.

Any deal involving a cease-fire in Gaza would be a hard sell for Israel, which would view it as a reward for Hezbollah rocket attacks that have displaced tens of thousands of its citizens for nearly a year.

Israel’s goals in Lebanon are far narrower than in Gaza, where Prime Minister Benjmain Netanyahu has vowed “total victory” over Hamas and the return of scores of hostages.

Israel wants the tens of thousands of people who were evacuated from northern communities nearly a year ago to return safely to their homes. And it wants to ensure that Hezbollah never carries out an Oct. 7-style attack.

A weekslong cease-fire — which would give Hezbollah a chance to reset after major attacks on its chain of command and communications — might not be enough.

Few Israelis are likely to return if they know it's only temporary, and even an agreement for a lasting cease-fire would face skepticism.

The U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah called for the militants to withdraw north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border, and for the area between to be patrolled by Lebanese forces and U.N. peacekeepers.

Israel says that provision was never implemented and is likely to demand additional guarantees in any new cease-fire. But Hezbollah is far stronger than Lebanon's regular armed forces and the U.N. detachment, neither of which would be able to impose any agreement by force.

Netanyahu leads the most religious and nationalist government in Israel's history. His far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions to Hamas, and they are also likely to oppose any deal with Hezbollah.

Bezalel Smotrich, Netanyahu's hardline finance minister, said Thursday that Israel’s campaign in the north “should only end in one scenario – crushing Hezbollah and denying its ability to harm residents of the north.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right National Security Minister, said he would not support a temporary cease-fire and would leave the government if it becomes permanent.

Although opposition parties would likely support the cease-fire, the defection of his partners would eventually bring down Netanyahu's government and force early elections, potentially leaving him even more exposed to investigations into the security failures of Oct. 7 and corruption charges that predate the war. It could even mean the end of his long political career.

In Lebanon, Prime Minister Najib Mikati has welcomed the cease-fire proposal, but he has little power to impose an agreement on Hezbollah.

Iran, which helped establish Hezbollah in the 1980s and is the source of its advanced weapons, has more sway over the group, but it has yet to express a position on any cease-fire. It likely fears a wider war that could bring it into direct conflict with the United States, but can't stand by indefinitely while its most powerful proxy force is dismantled.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, a relative moderate elected over the summer, struck a more conciliatory tone toward the West than his predecessors when he addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.

But he had sharp words for Israel and said its heavy bombardment of Lebanon in recent days “cannot go unanswered.”

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President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a meeting of the Security Council, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

People look at a damaged house that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, near Safed, northern Israel, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo//Leo Correa)

People look at a damaged house that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, near Safed, northern Israel, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo//Leo Correa)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

An Israeli firefighters plane uses a fire retardant to extinguish a fire after a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an open area near the city of Safed, northern Israel, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Ali Abdel Rahman Zorout, 5, who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, poses at the Alaaeddine Hospital in Sarafand, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Hezbollah members carry the coffins of Hezbollah commanders Ibrahim Kobeisi, seen in the picture left, and Hussein Ezzedine, right, during their funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Mourners react as they attend the funeral procession of Hezbollah commanders Ibrahim Kobeisi and Hussein Ezzedine, pictured, in Beirut's southern suburb, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Hezbollah members raise their group flags and chant slogans as they attend the funeral procession of Hezbollah commanders Ibrahim Kobeisi and Hussein Ezzedine in Beirut's southern suburb, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in the southern village of Kfar Rouman, seen from Marjayoun, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Relatives mourn over the coffin of Zulfikar Dergham Musa Al-Jabouri, in Najaf, Iraq, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 who died in Israeli airstrikes on Sept. 23 fighting alongside Hezbollah in Tyre, south Lebanon. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Nineteen Syrian refugees and a Lebanese national were killed in northeast Lebanon after an Israeli airstrike destroyed a building housing workers, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Thursday.

Also Thursday, the health ministry said two people were killed and 15 were wounded after an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in a southern suburb of Beirut. The Israel Defense Force said the strike killed a Hezbollah drone commander, Mohammed Hussein Surour.

The strikes came after Israel's military chief said Wednesday that the country was preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon as Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel is striking Hezbollah “with full force” and won’t stop until its goals are achieved.

Late Wednesday, the United States, France and other allies jointly called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations as fears grow that the violent escalation in recent days — following 11 months of cross-border exchange of fire — could grow into an all-out war.

The United Nations says over 90,000 people have been displaced by five days of Israeli strikes on Lebanon, bringing the total to 200,000 people who have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas after it stormed into Israel, sparking the Israel-Hamas war.

Here’s the latest:

TEL AVIV — Some 45 rockets were fired from Lebanon on the northern city of Safed and surrounding communities, according to the Israeli army, shortly after Israel killed a Hezbollah commander in a strike on Beirut.

Israeli police said heavy damage was caused by falling fragments, but there were no reports of injuries. It was the second heavy barrage on the area Thursday.

A total of 150 projectiles were fired so far Thursday from Lebanon on northern Israel, according to the army, most of which were intercepted or fell in open areas.

LONDON — Britain's defense secretary has echoed the call for a pause in Israel's conflict with Hezbollah.

“I urge President Netanyahu and the Lebanese Hezbollah leaders to pay heed to the combined voices at the United Nations to do just that," John Healey said after a meeting with his U.S. and Australian counterparts in London.

Healey said his country has sent 700 troops to Cyprus to assist in a potential emergency evacuation of civilians in Lebanon should a full war break out.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pressed both Israel and Lebanon to choose the path of cease-fire and urged each side to accept a temporary pause to avoid further escalation.

“Israel and Lebanon can choose a different path,” he said. “Despite a sharp escalation in recent days, a diplomatic solution is still viable ... All parties should seize this opportunity."

And he issued a warning to Iran and other U.S. adversaries, saying: “No one should try to exploit this crisis or expand this conflict.”

NEW YORK — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is striking Hezbollah “with full force” and won’t stop until its goals are achieved.

Netanyahu spoke as he landed in New York to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting and as U.S. and European officials were pressing for a 21-day halt in fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to give time for negotiations.

Netanyahu said Israel’s “policy is clear. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force. And we will not stop until we reach all our goals, chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes.”

He added that he approved the “targeted killing operation” of the head of Hezbollah’s drone unit in south Beirut Thursday.

Israel has dramatically escalated strikes in Lebanon this week, saying it is targeting Hezbollah. Israeli leaders have said they are determined to stop more than 11-months of cross-border fire by the militant group into Israel, which has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis from communities in the north.

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israel Defense Force says an airstrike on Beirut has killed a Hezbollah drone commander.

Israel's military said Thursday that its fighter jets attacked Beirut on Thursday and killed Mohammed Hussein Surour, who it described as a “commander of Hezbollah’s aerial unit."

It said Surour “promoted, directed and commanded many aerial terrorist attacks, including drone attacks, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles aimed at Israel.”

Hezbollah has not commented on the claim.

BEIRUT — Lebanon's Health Ministry says two people were killed and 15 were wounded after an airstrike hit an apartment building in a southern suburb of Beirut.

The health ministry said those wounded included a woman who was in critical condition.

Al-Manar TV, the TV station of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, reported earlier Thursday that an Israeli airstrike caused an explosion on an apartment building in south Beirut, but did not give further details.

The Israeli military said it carried out a “targeted strike” south of Beirut. It said more details will be released later.

The strike came two days after a similar attack killed a senior Hezbollah military commander with the group’s missile unit.

NEW YORK — Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the world is united in calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah and will be seeking approval from Israeli officials after the release of a proposal for a temporary 21-day halt in fighting.

“It is now the G7 countries, the European Union, the leading Arab countries, everyone speaking with one clear voice about the need to get that cease-fire in the north,” Blinken said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday before he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top strategy advisor, Ron Dermer, in New York.

Netanyahu himself is en route to New York where he will speak on Friday at the UN General Assembly. His office said the cease-fire call is only a proposal and that Israel would continue to defend its land and people from attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanese territory.

“I can’t speak for him,” Blinken said of Netanyahu. “I can just say that the world is speaking clearly for virtually all of the key countries in Europe and in the region on the need for the ceasefire."

“What we’re saying, what the world is saying, is very clear, and we’ll be looking to work with the Israelis and all the parties throughout the rest of the day,” he added.

BEIRUT — Syrian pro-government media outlets say Israel’s air force has carried out airstrikes along the Lebanon-Syria border, wounding five people and destroying a bridge that links the countries.

Syria’s Sham FM radio station and Dama Post reported that the airstrike wounded five people and destroyed the bridge near the Matraba border crossing on the Lebanese side in the northeastern Hermel region.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported several Israeli airstrikes in Hermel.

The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used to transfer weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza for nearly a year are urging Israel to ensure than any possible cease-fire deal with Hezbollah includes provisions for the war in Gaza.

Gil Dickmann, whose cousin, Carmel Gat, was kidnapped and was one of six Israelis killed in Hamas tunnels in August, said the families of the hostages are feeling forgotten as attention shifts to the northern front.

“We know that these things are connected to each other, the northern part and the southern part, they’re all part of the same large situation in which we are at from October 7th on. And we’re very worried that if we don’t make the right decisions now, we will miss this amazing opportunity to get the hostages out,” Dickmann said on Thursday.

He slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for missing multiple opportunities to free his cousin over the past 11 months and begged him to agree to a cease-fire with both Hezbollah and Hamas that would include provisions for the hostages.

Dickmann’s sister-in-law, Yarden Roman-Gat, was released in the week-long cease-fire deal last November, along with nearly 100 other hostages.

Hamas-led militants abducted some 250 people during their Oct. 7 attack in Israel in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza since then.

TEL AVIV, Israel — The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cease-fire called on by the United States, France and other allies is only a proposal, and that Netanyahu, who is on a flight en route to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly, has not responded to it.

The U.S. and its allies jointly called Wednesday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who is the acting prime minister during Netanyahu’s trip abroad, said there will be no cease-fire in the north, vowing to continue the fighting in the north “with full force until victory” and returning the tens of thousands of Israeli citizens evacuated from their homes.

Netanyahu's office added that the Israeli military was continuing to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike on a village in northeast Lebanon destroyed a building housing Syrian workers, killing 23 of them and wounding another eight people.

State-run National News Agency quoted the village’s mayor Ali Kassas as saying that the bodies of 23 Syrian citizens were pulled out from under the rubble, adding that four other Syrians and four Lebanese were wounded in the same airstrike late Wednesday in the village of Younine, just north of the ancient city of Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley that borders Syria.

The Lebanese Red Cross said it evacuated the bodies of nine people following the airstrike. Others were taken by Hezbollah’s paramedic arm as well as the Lebanese Civil Defense, NNA said.

A country of about 6 million people, Lebanon hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands who are unregistered — the world’s highest refugee population per capita.

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military says it struck 75 sites overnight across southern and eastern Lebanon, part of a punishing air campaign in response to Hezbollah rocket fire.

The military said Thursday it was targeting Hezbollah military infrastructure, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers. Around half a dozen Israelis have been wounded in the latest escalation.

Israel strikes have killed more than 630 people in Lebanon since Monday, about a quarter of them women and children. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of projectiles towards Israel over the past week, including a surface-to-surface missile toward Tel Aviv that was intercepted Wednesday.

The Israeli military said around 45 projectiles were fired from Lebanon on Thursday, all of them either intercepted or falling in open areas. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza, hoping to pin down Israeli forces. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies of Iran.

The fighting has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border. Israel has vowed to do whatever is necessary to allow its citizens to return, and has moved thousands of troops to the northern border in preparation for what could be a ground campaign into southern Lebanon.

The United States, France and other allies jointly called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire in the conflict to “provide space for diplomacy” as fears grow that the violence could become an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, which would further destabilize a region already shaken by the war in Gaza.

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Britain says it’s sending $6.7 million worth of humanitarian assistance, including medical supplies, hygiene kits and fuel to Lebanon to support the civilian population there as fighting forces thousands to flee their homes.

The United Kingdom said in a statement that the United Nations agency for children, UNICEF, will distribute the supplies, which will also help aid workers better deal with urgent health and nutrition needs.

The U.K. earlier announced that 700 troops, including Border Force and Foreign Office officials, would be deployed to a British military base in Cyprus to prepare for possible evacuations of British citizens from the region as fighting could potentially escalate.

An online portal and phone line have been reopened for British nationals in Lebanon to register their presence.

Cyprus is situated approximately 210 kilometers (130 miles) west of the Lebanese capital. The east Mediterranean island nation served as a waystation for the repatriation of approximately 60,000 foreign nationals who where evacuated from Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

Britain’s Minister of State for Development, Women and Equalities, Anneliese Dodds, said the U.K. will continue to support Lebanese people as it urges British nationals to leave the country.

British navy ships RFA Mounts Bay and the HMS Duncan were already in the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday, while the Royal Air Force has aircraft and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if needed.

The United States, France and other allies called Wednesday for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.

The joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, says the recent fighting is “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.”

“We call for an immediate 21-day cease-fire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy,” the statement reads. “We call on all parties, including the Governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary cease-fire immediately.”

The signatories include the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

This version revises the number of people killed in the Lebanese village of Younine to 19, in line with information from the Health Ministry.

Lebanese soldiers cordon off the area at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Coloring pencils and books are scattered on the ground outside a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Municipality workers remove power cables in front of damaged buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A resident checks an apartment that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The damaged building at the site of an Israeli airstrike, seen from the shattered window of a car, in Beirut's southern suburb, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An Israeli Air Force Black Hawk helicopter flies over the Mediterranean Sea near the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Yam, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a meeting of the Security Council, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

A Syrian boy fleeing the war in Lebanon with his family, arrives at the Syrian-Lebanese border crossing in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Smoke rises after an explosion during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank Jenin refugee camp, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

An Israeli armoured vehicle moves on a street during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

An emergency worker cuts concrete blocks as he searches for survivors at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in the town of Maisara, north of Beirut, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah members carry the coffins of Hezbollah commanders Ibrahim Kobeisi, seen in the picture left, and Hussein Ezzedine, right, during their funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike north of Beirut, in the village of Ras Osta, Byblos district, seen from Maaysrah, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)