Defense Minister Yoav Gallant conducted a situation assessment on Friday at Northern Command and directed the IDF to "expand the campaign in the north."
According to Gallant, "We are shifting from repelling to actively pursuing Hezbollah. Wherever they are hiding we will reach them, including more distant places like Damascus and beyond. "We will increase the rate of attacks and expand our operations - that's what I conveyed this week in Washington to Secretary of Defense Austin, to Special Envoy Amos Hochstein, and others - and that's what I instructed the IDF at Northern Command."
In a veiled reference to the reported overnight attack in Syria attributed to Israel, resulting in dozens of casualties including six Hezbollah operatives, Gallant praised the ongoing operations against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and Syria.
Following the situation assessment, Gallant vowed to "expand the campaign" and intensify attacks in Lebanon. "Today, I visited Northern Command to closely examine another successful strike against a Hezbollah commander," he said. "The results from Northern Command are highly impressive, and the operation is being conducted at a very high level."
"We are shifting from being passive to actively pursuing Hezbollah. Wherever Hezbollah is, we will reach it. This applies to towns like Beirut, Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon, Nabatieh, including more distant places like Damascus and beyond - wherever we need to act, we will," he emphasized.
Gallant attributed the severe damage in Lebanon to Hezbollah and personally held responsibility to Nasrallah. "They have over 320 terrorists killed, and they will pay for any attack coming from Lebanon," he added.
Gallant, who visited Washington this week, stated that he conveyed his message regarding the northern front to senior American officials. "We will increase the pace and expand the operations - that's what I conveyed this week in Washington to Secretary of Defense Austin, to Special Envoy Amos Hochstein, and others - and that's how I instructed the IDF today at Northern Command."