Israel will expand its war goals to include the return of northern residents who were evacuated due to attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The decision was approved during an overnight meeting of the security cabinet, Netanyahu’s office said. Israeli forces have exchanged near-daily strikes with Hezbollah since Hamas’s 7 October attack sparked the war in the Gaza.
Tens of thousands of Israelis were evacuated from towns along the northern frontier that have been badly damaged by rocket fire and they have yet to return.
Earlier on Monday, Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said that the “possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas, and refuses to end the conflict. Therefore, the only way left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes will be via military action.”
Hezbollah officials have said in the past that the group would stand down if a Gaza ceasefire was reached, while Israel insists it cannot allow militants to remain in the border area in Lebanon’s south.
The violence has killed hundreds – mostly fighters – in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side. The fighting has also forced tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes.
Gallant on Monday met visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein to discuss military operations against Hezbollah and the plight of Israelis displaced by the cross-border strikes, the defence ministry said in a statement. Earlier in the day, the defence minster spoke to his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and said time was “running out” for an agreement that would end the conflict.
While repeated rounds of talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have sought a truce in Gaza, there have been no signs of progress in diplomacy aimed at halting the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
Secretary of state Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt on Tuesday for his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war began nearly a year ago. Blinken has no public plans to go to Israel to meet Netanyahu on this trip.
After months in which President Joe Biden and his officials publicly talked up an agreement to end the war in Gaza as being just within reach, the White House says it is now working with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar to come up with a revised final proposal to try to at least get Israel and Hamas into a six-week ceasefire.
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar said on Monday that the Palestinian group had the resources to sustain its fight against Israel, with support from Iran-backed regional allies.
Sinwar said in a letter to the group’s Yemeni allies, the Houthis, that “we have prepared ourselves to fight a long war of attrition” and along with other Iran-aligned would “break the enemy’s political will” after more than 11 months of war.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report
