Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s backtracking on an agreed-upon ceasefire process covering both Lebanon and Gaza shattered relations with US President Joe Biden, according to a TV report Thursday evening that set out what it claimed was the sequence of events leading to the apparent collapse of the effort.

Channel 12 news reported that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer had reached agreements in principle with the US on the approach with Netanyahu’s approval before the prime minister vowed Israel would continue to strike Hezbollah “with full force” as he landed in New York to attend the annual UN General Assembly, rebuffing the ceasefire push.

After the report aired, an Israeli official said, “As we said, Israel was updated about the American proposal but never agreed to it,” contradicting both the position of the White House press secretary and a senior Western diplomat who spoke to The Times of Israel and said that both Israel and Lebanon had backed the plan.

The process began earlier this week with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reaching out to Dermer, and saying that steps must be taken to prevent the Israel-Hezbollah escalation spilling out of hand, Channel 12 reported.

Dermer reportedly responded that Netanyahu wanted to avoid all-out war.

Discussions then got underway on a temporary ceasefire during which a more permanent arrangement could be negotiated. This intended arrangement would be based on ongoing efforts by US envoy Amos Hochstein and on UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Lebanon war, and also on the Gaza hostage-ceasefire proposal unveiled by Biden at the end of May, the report said.

This broad framework was intended to enable Israel to say it had separated the northern front crisis from Gaza, while Hezbollah could argue that it was ceasing its attacks because the Gaza war would be coming to an end.

According to what Channel 12 called “an emerging understanding,” Netanyahu was to have related to the intended arrangement during his speech to the UN General Assembly on Friday. He was expected to declare that Hamas had been defeated militarily in Gaza and announce the transition to the next phase of that war.

The US-Israel discussions reportedly continued in unspecified “wider forums” ahead of Netanyahu’s departure for New York early Thursday morning, including with the participation of Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, the head of the IDF’s Strategy Directorate and a former military secretary to Netanyahu.

It was recognized that even if the intended arrangement did not come to fruition, the effort to reach it would provide greater legitimacy for the US to stand firmly behind Israel if regional war were to break out, Channel 12 reported.

While this diplomatic process, overseen by Netanyahu and Dermer, continued, the IDF carried on with its strikes on Hezbollah. Netanyahu updated a small number of ministers about the developments.

When word of the potential ceasefire began to emerge from the Biden administration in Washington on Wednesday, it was with Netanyahu’s knowledge and approval, the report said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also insisted Thursday that the US’s call for a ceasefire had in fact been “coordinated” with Israel, despite the rejection, adding that talks were continuing at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Additionally, a senior Western diplomat told The Times of Israel that both Israel and Lebanon privately gave mediators their support for the arrangement before it was announced.

While Netanyahu was en route to the US, Biden and French President Emanuel Macron jointly announced the 21-day ceasefire plan.

The understanding was that Netanyahu would relate publicly to the intended arrangement when he landed in New York on Thursday and it would be possible to take the effort forward, the report said. Netanyahu was set to say that while Israel continues to battle Hezbollah, it welcomes any ceasefire initiative that would safely enable the return of northern Israeli residents to their homes. There were even draft texts of what Netanyahu would say, according to the report.

But then came the wave of political criticism of the nascent ceasefire in Israel, and “everything turned upside down,” the report said, leading Netanyahu to distance himself from truce proposals, issuing denials from his plane.

Channel 12 quoted a source familiar with the details as saying, “Obviously the president of the United States would not lead a process like this without the agreement of Prime Minister Netanyahu. This backtracking completely shatters what remains of relations with the Biden administration.”

The Western diplomat who spoke with The Times of Israel said Netanyahu’s conduct is an extension of how he has handled the Gaza hostage talks, in which he has privately agreed to show flexibility only to make public statements immediately afterward aimed at calming his political base but that risk thwarting progress in negotiations.

Reporters traveling with Netanyahu were told that no such arrangement was discussed by the security cabinet. But, the report said, the issue was discussed in the ad hoc forum Netanyahu assembled in recent days, attended by several key ministers although not by Defense Minister Yoav Galant. He told them about the discussions and the US-French ceasefire efforts. Several ministers made plain their opposition to a ceasefire, and Netanyahu told them the plan was also an effort to bolster Israel’s legitimacy.

Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu, having hardened his position in the wake of the political criticism at home, told reporters on his plane, when asked whether Israel would seek to kill Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, “If Hezbollah does not get the message we have conveyed in the past week, including the elimination of senior figures, it’ll understand in a different way.”

US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew reiterated Thursday evening the Biden administration’s call for a 21-day ceasefire while stressing that Hezbollah was the party that instigated the ongoing conflict along the border.

“Since Hezbollah began its rocket attacks on Israel on October 8, round after round of strikes and counter strikes have driven people from their homes,” Lew wrote on X.

“The unacceptable risk of broader regional escalation demands immediate action,” he continued, arguing that the ceasefire backed by over a dozen countries “is the best way for diplomacy to restore safety for citizens to return to their homes.”

“Conditions in the north of Israel and the south of Lebanon must change to permit their safe return. At the same time, we press forward every day for an agreement to release the hostages and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza,” Lew added.

Amid the talk of a ceasefire, some 25 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Lower Galilee in the evening, setting off sirens in several towns and injuring one person.

According to the military, the rockets all struck open areas.

Paramedics treated a 45-year-old man who was moderately wounded by shrapnel in the attack, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said in a statement.

An Israeli Air Force drone struck the launcher used in the attack a short while later, the IDF said.

Overall Thursday, Hezbollah launched more than 175 rockets at northern Israel.

In preparation for a further escalation of the conflict, troops of the IDF’s 7th Armored Brigade wrapped up a drill simulating a ground offensive in Lebanon, the military said.

According to the IDF, the drill took place several kilometers from the Lebanon border, and simulated ground operations and combat in “complex and mountainous terrain.”

The drill was the latest in a series carried out by the IDF for a potential ground offensive in Lebanon.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

Since Israel escalated its airstrikes on the Hezbollah terror group on Monday, more than 630 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

At least a quarter of those killed have been women and children, according to Lebanese health officials. More than 2,000 were wounded. Israel has said that many Hezbollah operatives are among the dead.

Agencies contributed to this report.