Foreign Minister Israel Katz told his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne today (Tuesday) that Israel would not accept "quiet for quiet" and that if Hezbollah did not retreat, Israel would launch an all-out war on Hezbollah and seize a significant part of southern Lebanon as a buffer to ensure northern Israel's security, according to Mako News.
France has been working hard to mediate a settlement that would end the border war between Israel and Hezbollah which has been raging since October 8. To that end, it has sent increasingly senior government officials to Lebanon and Israel to sound out conditions, so far without success.
Lebanese news portal Naharnet says that "most (proposals) would hinge on Hezbollah moving its forces several kilometers from the border, a beefed-up Lebanese army presence and negotiations for Israeli forces to withdraw from disputed points along the border where Lebanon says Israel has been occupying small patches of Lebanese territory since it withdrew from the rest of south Lebanon in 2000."
