White House: Ceasefire proposal was coordinated with Israel

The US government and other countries behind a joint statement calling for a three-week ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon coordinated with Israel, a senior US official said on Friday.

The White House's National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said the statement "wasn't just drawn up in a vacuum."

It wasn't only the countries that signed on to the plan who knew of its contents "but Israel itself."

But when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York on Thursday for his Friday speech at the United Nations General Assembly, he said Israel would continue to attack Hezbollah until the Israelis evacuated from the northern border could safely return home.

Netanyahu said there was a lot of "fake news." The government's press office in Jerusalem said the United States had only informed Israel of their intention to present a proposal for a ceasefire together with others.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the "joint statement was a clear call" for a temporary ceasefire to open up space for diplomacy so residents on both sides of the border could return home.

"I would add that the statement was indeed coordinated with the Israeli side," she said.