Israel says halting Hezbollah attacks is now war goal

Associated Press Jerusalem: Israel announced Tuesday that halting Hezbollah's attacks in the north to allow its residents to return is now an official war goal, as the country considers a wider military operation that could ignite an all-out conflict. Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to take heavier military action to halt the near-daily attacks, which began shortly after the outbreak of the nearly yearlong Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel has regularly launched airstrikes in response and has targeted and killed senior Hezbollah commanders.

As recently as last month it appeared a full-blown war was imminent. The tit-for-tat strikes have displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border. Hezbollah has said it would halt the attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, but those talks have repeatedly bogged down. The United States has pressed for restraint even as it has rushed military aid to Israel, warning its close ally that a wider war would not achieve its goals. Israeli media have meanwhile reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering firing Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and replacing him with a politician seen as far more hawkish. That would be the biggest leadership shakeup in Israel since Hamas' October 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza and set off wider regional tensions.

The announcement on Lebanon came after Israel's security Cabinet met late into the night. It said the Cabinet has updated the objectives of the war" to include safely returning the residents of the north to their homes. Israel will continue to act to implement this objective, it said. US envoy Amos Hochstein, who has made several visits to Lebanon and Israel to try to ease tensions, met with Netanyahu on Monday. Hochstein told the prime minister that intensifying the conflict with Hezbollah would not help achieve the goal of returning Israelis to their homes, according to a US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks. Hochstein said Netanyahu risked sparking a broad and protracted regional conflict if he moved forward with a full-scale war in Lebanon and said the Biden administration remained committed to finding a diplomatic solution in conjunction with a Gaza cease-fire or on its own, the official said.

Netanyahu told Hochstein that residents cannot return without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north, according to a statement from the prime minister's office. It said that while Netanyahu appreciates and respects" US support, Israel will do what is necessary to safeguard its security."