The Israeli prime minister says the goals of the war should include enabling Israelis fleeing areas near the Lebanese border to return home.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his goals for the war in Gaza have been expanded to include enabling Israelis who fled areas near the Lebanese border to return to their homes.
Since Israel launched its war on Gaza nearly a year ago, there have been near-daily cross-border firefights between Israeli forces and the Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
The exchange has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides and threatens to ignite a wider regional conflict.
His office said in a statement on Tuesday that the decision to include the “safe return of northern residents” was approved during an overnight meeting of Netanyahu's security cabinet.
The decision came a day after Israeli Defense Minister Yoo Gallant's statement to a visiting US envoy said that “military action” was the only way to ensure the return of Israel's northern communities. is left
Hezbollah officials have said the group will withdraw if a ceasefire in Gaza is reached, but Gallant warned that time is running out.
Months of negotiations and shuttle diplomacy to end the fighting that began after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed at least 1,139 people and took more than 200 hostages have led to a ceasefire. I have failed. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been martyred and more than 95,000 have been injured in the Israeli attack.
A ceasefire will be a key focus of talks when US Secretary of State Anthony Blanken arrives in Egypt later on Tuesday.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. was working “aggressively” on a new proposal that would “ensure the release of all hostages, alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, and promote broader regional security.” helps”.
Netanyahu has publicly rejected U.S. assessments that the deal is nearly complete and has insisted on an Israeli military presence along the Egypt-Gaza border.
Growing international and domestic pressure has failed to convince him of a prisoner release deal that has broad support among the Israeli public.
Along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, Hezbollah on Monday claimed “dozens” of attacks on Israeli positions, and Israel's military said it struck “terrorist” positions in Lebanon.
“The prospect of an agreement is fading as Hezbollah continues to align itself with Hamas,” Gallant told visiting U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, the Defense Department's spokesman, a Defense Department statement said. A statement said.
Netanyahu later told Hochstein that he wanted a “fundamental change” in the security situation on Israel's northern border.
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy head, said on Saturday that his group had “no intention of going to war,” but that if Israel “abandoned” one, “there would be great losses on both sides.”