The political-security cabinet updated the goals of the war at its meeting Mo9nday night, adding the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes as a stated goal, the Prime Minister's Office announed early Tuesday morning. "Israel will continue to act to implement this objective," the PMO said.
Up until now, almost a year since Hezbollah began attacking Israel in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the return of the residents of the north to their homes has not been defined as one of the goals of the war, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated this after the assassination of senior Hezbollah official Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
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Fire in the Upper Galilee after rocket from Lebanon crashes down
(Photo: Jalaa Marey / AFP)
In the shadow of the attempts to remove him and replace him with the chairman of the New Hope Party Gideon Sa'ar, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant changed his tone Monday and in a closed security discussion \ with Netanyahu he said: "I kept talking about escalation or negotiating an agreement, but there is no possibility of reaching an agreement. There is only one option: to go full force and use all our military power in order to bring the residents of the north home."
A few hours after the defense minister's words in the closed debate were published for the first time on Ynet, he published a similar public message, at the end of a meeting he held Monday night with Amos Hochstein, U.S. President Joe Biden's envoy to the Middle East. Gallant, according to his office, emphasized to Hochstein that "the possibility of an agreement is passing, Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict, therefore, the only way left to return the residents of the north to their homes is through military action."
Netanyahu has also signaled in recent days that Israeli patience has run out, as exchanges of fire in the north and the launches toward the communities of the Galilee continue unabated. In a security-strategic discussion that took place on Thursday with the participation of the prime minister, the heads of the defense establishment and ministers Galant, Katz, Smotrich and Dermer, Netanyahu said: "The situation in the north cannot continue. We need to change the balance and we must return the residents home. This will not be done without changing the balance against Hezbollah. The IDF should prepare for a broad campaign in Lebanon."
Meanwhile, officials in the security system are warning that the escalation in the north could turn into a regional war, due to "reckless measures planned by the Israeli government" which will not necessarily help in the return of the residents who were evacuated to their homes.