Report: Lebanon pressed on ceasefire, Hezbollah won't bow to 'intimidation'

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has revealed that he has “received major warnings from the Europeans and Arabs” regarding the Israel-Hezbollah clashes, a media report said on Thursday.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein has also told him in their latest phone call that “there is a need to cease fire in the south and not wait for the course of the war in the Gaza Strip,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

Hezbollah has meanwhile informed Mikati and other Lebanese officials that “the threats -- regardless whether they are serious or a repetition of the intimidation campaign -- will change nothing in the decision to maintain the military support for Gaza.”

Informed sources also told al-Akhbar that “the intimidation comes amid the Israeli enemy’s preparations to enter Rafah with a full US cover for an assault that might last for more than six weeks.”

“It needs to halt the war of attrition on the northern front amid its inability to open two fronts at the same time,” the sources added.