Israeli Prime Minister Says War Goals Should Include Allowing Israelis Who Flee Areas Near Lebanon Border To Return Home
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his goals for the war in Gaza have been expanded to include allowing Israelis who have fled areas near the Lebanese border to return to their homes.
There has been almost daily cross-border gunfire between Israeli forces and the Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since Israel began its war in Gaza nearly a year ago.
The exchanges have forced tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes and threaten to spark a wider regional conflict.
The decision to include “the safe return of northern residents to their homes” was approved during an evening meeting of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.
The decision comes a day after Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a visiting U.S. envoy that “military action” was the “only way left to ensure the return of the communities in northern Israel.”
Hezbollah officials have said the group would withdraw if a ceasefire was reached in Gaza, but Gallant warned that time was “running out.”
Months of negotiations and shuttle diplomacy have failed to secure a truce to end fighting that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed at least 1,139 people and took more than 200 prisoner. The Israeli attack has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and injured more than 95,000.
The ceasefire will be a key topic of discussions when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Egypt later on Tuesday.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US was working “expeditiously” on a new proposal that “ensures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security.”
Netanyahu has publicly rejected US assessments that the deal is nearly complete and has insisted on an Israeli military presence on the Egypt-Gaza border.
Mounting international and domestic pressure has failed to persuade him to accept a captive release deal that enjoys broad support from the Israeli public.
Along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for “dozens” of attacks on Israeli positions on Monday, and the Israeli military said it struck “terrorist” targets in Lebanon.
“The prospect of a deal is fading as Hezbollah continues to link up with Hamas,” Gallant told visiting U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, according to a Defense Department statement.
Netanyahu later told Hochstein that he seeks a “fundamental change” in the security situation on Israel’s northern border.
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said Saturday that his group has “no intention of going to war,” but if Israel “unleashes” it, “there will be heavy losses on both sides.”
