By BASSEM MROUE and MELANIE LIDMAN

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Dimming hopes for a cease-fire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel plans to continue striking Hezbollah “with full force” and will not stop until all of 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.

Only a short time before his statement, the Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah drone commander in an airstrike on an apartment building in the suburbs of the Lebanese capital.

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.”

A man reacts in a damaged apartment at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Saksakieh, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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 group into Israel, which has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis from communities in the north.

The statement tempered hopes for the international initiative aimed at halting increasingly heavy exchanges of fire that have killed hundreds of people in Lebanon and threatened to trigger an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel has talked of a possible ground invasion into Lebanon to push the militant group away from the border.

Soon after the statement was issued, Hezbollah TV station Al-Manar reported an Israeli airstrike in a suburb of Beirut. It and other stations showed a damaged apartment building in Dahiyeh, the mainly Shiite suburb where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

The Israeli military later said the strike killed Mohammed Hussein Surour. Hezbollah offered no immediate comment on the claim.

Two people were killed and 15 wounded in the strike, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

A man stands on top of a damaged car at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Saksakieh, south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Over the past week, Israel has carried out several strikes in Beirut targeting senior Hezbollah commanders. Earlier in the day, a strike in eastern Lebanon killed 20 people, most of them Syrian migrants, according to Lebanese health officials.

Israel has dramatically stepped up its bombardment in Lebanon, saying it is determined to stop Hezbollah’s near-daily rocket volleys over the past 11 months that have forced tens of thousands to evacuate homes in northern Israel. Strikes since Monday have killed more than 630 people in Lebanon, around a quarter of them women and children, according to local health authorities. Intensifying Hezbollah barrages have wounded several people in Israel.

Hezbollah has not yet responded to the proposal for a pause in fighting. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed it, but his government has no sway over the group.

Hezbollah has insisted it would halt its strikes only if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, where Israel has battled Hamas for nearly a year. That appears out of reach despite months of negotiations led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.

In its statement, Netanyahu’s office said that “the fighting in Gaza will also continue until all the objectives of the war have been achieved.” Netanyahu is expected to meet with other world leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

One of Netanyahu’s far-right governing partners threatened on Thursday to suspend cooperation with his government if it signs onto a temporary cease-fire with Hezbollah – and to quit completely if a permanent deal is reached. It was the latest sign of displeasure from Netanyahu’s allies toward international cease-fire efforts.

“If a temporary cease-fire becomes permanent, we will resign from the government,” said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish Power party.

If Ben-Gvir leaves the coalition, Netanyahu would lose his parliamentary majority and could see his government come toppling down, though opposition leaders have said they would offer support for a cease-fire deal.

Israel launched a massive operation in Gaza after a Hamas-led attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, and some 250 were taken hostage. The Israeli campaign has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local officials.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel one day after the Oct. 7 attack in support of its Hamas allies, and Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire ever since.

Israeli families of the hostages said they are pushing for a possible cease-fire deal for Lebanon to include provisions for the war in Gaza, especially securing release of the roughly 70 hostages still presumed to be alive and the bodies of some 30 others.

Gil Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel Gat was kidnapped and was one of six Israelis whose bodies were recovered from tunnels in Gaza in August, said the hostages’ families are feeling forgotten as attention shifts to the northern front. He called on Netanyahu to reach a truce with both Hezbollah and Hamas with provisions for the release of hostages.

“We know that these things are connected to each other, the northern part and the southern part,” Dickmann said Tuesday. “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.”

Before this week, the cross-border barrages between Hezbollah and the Israeli military had killed about 600 people in Lebanon, mostly combatants but including more than 100 civilians, and about four dozen people in Israel, roughly half of them soldiers and the rest civilians. The fighting also forced tens of thousands to flee homes on both sides of the border.

Israeli leaders have said they are determined to force Hezbollah back from the border to allow its citizens to return to their homes. It has moved thousands of troops to the order in preparation for a possible ground operation.

It says its escalated strikes across Lebanon the past week are targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and other military infrastructure. Hezbollah in turn has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, saying they are targeting Israeli military positions. On Wednesday, they fired on Tel Aviv for the first time with a longer-range missile that was intercepted.

Early Thursday, an Israeli airstrike hit a building housing Syrian workers and their families near the ancient city of Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. The Lebanese Health Ministry said 19 Syrians and a Lebanese were killed, one of the deadliest single strikes in Israel’s intensified air campaign. The state news agency had initially reported that 23 people were dead.

Hussein Salloum, a local official in Younine, said most of the dead were women and children.

“We dug through the rubble with our own hands” until a small bulldozer was brought in, Salloum told The Associated Press by telephone. “We had very limited capabilities.”

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

Israel struck 75 sites overnight across southern and eastern Lebanon, the military said. At least 45 projectiles were fired from Lebanon early Thursday, all of which were intercepted or fell in open areas, it said.

Mroue reported from Beirut.

After an August trade from Minnesota United, Wayzata native Caden Clark has rediscovered confidence and goal-scoring with CF Montreal in September.

With two goals across 359 minutes in five total matches, Clark spoke freely Saturday about his goalless 23-game stint with his home-state Loons.

“Why do I feel so comfortable? Why do I feel like I can do certain things I didn’t do before?” Clark asked after scoring a goal in a 2-0 win over Chicago Fire. “It’s just who I am, really. Nothing has changed. I talked to my dad about it. ‘What do you do differently?’ This and that. It’s nothing. It’s my mindset. It’s staying calm, and trust in yourself.

“I think, in Minnesota, it was tough for me,” Clark continued. “It was really tough. The coach was asking 10,000 different things from me, and right back.”

Clark smiled and added: “That was my struggle.”

Clark’s words reached MNUFC head coach Eric Ramsay.

“I can’t imagine that he would wake up the following morning thinking it’s a sensible way to talk about his ex-club, in any way,” Ramsay told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday. “But he’s entitled to say what he wants, and we wish him nothing but the best from here.”

Clark considers himself an attacking midfielder; that’s where he’s been playing in Montreal; and that’s where he started playing for the Loons from February into May. But Ramsay moved Clark to wingback on a five-man back line for the majority of his time in Minnesota. That defensive spot where the club projected the now-21-year-old to be best suited.

When it didn’t work out — includuing Clark being a late scratch in two matches — Loons’ chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad traded Clark for $50,000 in 2024 General Allocation Money (GAM) and up to $100,000 in GAM if Clark meets performance marks. The Loons also retain a sell-on percentage if Clark is transferred out of MLS.

Clark’s frustration at how things went in Minnesota is understandable. He was coming off a difficult stint at RB Leipzig in Germany and was looking forward to a homecoming, where he could play matches in front of family on weekends and hang out with friends after training sessions on weekdays.

Clark was brought to Minnesota via a marginal transfer fee by former Loons manager Adrian Heath and Clark would have played in attacking positions in Heath’s free-flowing offensive system.

But Heath was fired in October; Clark arrived in January; Ramsay came in March.

In some ways, Ramsay is a polar opposite to the elder Heath. The 32-year-old has shown himself to be a detailed, defensive-focused tactician. He will look to add more parameters for players to play within — not subtract them. And he looks for players with versatility to play multiple positions within his systems.

Clark said Saturday he’s “never had more fun” playing on a team than right now. Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois is a big reason for that.

“He just gives me freedom and trust,” Clark said. “I worked hard to earn that, he’s given it back to me, and now it’s paying off for both of us. It’s just the trust and freedom, and not asking me to be in this spot at this time. He’s trusting me in my play style to really manipulate players and play my own game, so I really, really appreciate that. And hopefully it will keep working going forward.”

From 2019-21, Ramsay coached the Under-23 team at Chelsea, a London club often loaded with talented young players. He used his experience in the academy of an English Premier League club when discussing Clark.

“I’ve seen countless players over my time, particularly Chelsea, that you think, ‘OK, top, top players, really good players, but there’s absolutely no way that if they stay here, they’re going to reach their potential,’ ” Ramsay said. “So I think Caden, we felt like he was one of them. It just wasn’t a good fit. Him and the environment weren’t well suited. And perhaps some in the area (of) being a home guy, and the pressure that that brings, hopefully (he) really goes and flourishes over there. Fingers crossed it’s the start of that.”

For Ramsay, well-wishes to Clark are the respectful and professional thing to express, but if Clark gets back on the trajectory of being a highly regarded U.S. youth international while playing in attacking positions, MNUFC’s assessment of Clark’s positioning and future in Minnesota won’t reflect as kindly.

By CARLA K. JOHNSON

With more Americans using ever-stronger marijuana, a federal advisory panel is calling for a public health approach that’s a big departure from “Just Say No.”

Thursday’s report proposes a health-focused strategy with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention taking a larger role in cannabis policy than ever before.

“We’d like the federal government to step up to provide some leadership in this area,” said Dr. Steven Teutsch of the University of Southern California, who chaired the committee behind the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report. The CDC and the National Institutes of Health sponsored the report. A CDC spokesperson said Thursday that the agency would study the recommendations and that more money would be needed to implement them.

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An estimated 18 million Americans report using marijuana daily or near-daily, more than the number who drink alcohol that often.

Today, 38 states and the District of Columbia allow the medical use of marijuana and many of those states also allow adult recreational use, with taxes and regulation of sales similar to alcohol. Florida voters will decide on recreational use in November.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, although the government is taking steps to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug while still illegal.

Cannabis is getting stronger, with levels of the intoxicating compound THC rising. Twenty-five years ago, cannabis flower contained about 5% THC.

“Now you go into the stores, it’s hard to find products that are less than 20% THC,” said Beau Kilmer, co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center and a report committee member.

Cannabis can ease chronic pain, but evidence on other health benefits has been limited by lack of research. The risks for heavy users include car accidents and repeated bouts of vomiting that can send people to the emergency room.

For teens, cannabis can get in the way of learning and increase the risk of mood and anxiety disorders. Regular use during pregnancy can raise risks for the baby.

Public health “took a back seat” as states passed cannabis laws, Teutsch said. “Financial interests played a substantial role in influencing those policies.”

According to the report, industry lobbying has prevented attempts in Washington state to limit THC concentration and attempts in Colorado to restrict pesticides in cannabis cultivation.

Aaron Smith of the National Cannabis Industry Association said states have protected public health by replacing criminal markets with regulated businesses “that are required to test products for contaminants, practice truth in labeling, and most importantly, keep cannabis products out of the hands of minors.” Making cannabis legal nationally would improve public health through federal regulation, Smith said.

Among the report’s recommendations for the CDC:

Develop and evaluate health campaigns about cannabis, specifically for parents, young people, pregnant women and people 65 and older.
Monitor cannabis cultivation, sales, use and health impacts.
Create best practices for state regulation, including ways to limit youth access.

For Congress:

Close a loophole that allows intoxicating products derived from hemp to be widely sold, even in states where other cannabis products are illegal.
Remove restrictions on the Office of National Drug Control Policy that prevent it from studying the effects of cannabis legalization.

For states:

Require training and certification for cannabis retail staff.
Automatically expunge or seal records for low-level cannabis-related offenses in states that have decriminalized cannabis.
Adopt and enforce quality standards set by the U.S. Pharmacopeia, an independent group that sets standards in medicines and dietary supplements.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.