General News
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Galant attend vote on the state budget at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
The Israeli Security Cabinet on Monday declared the safe return of the tens of thousands of evacuated residents of northern Israel to be one of the ongoing war’s central goals.
“The Security Cabinet has updated the objectives of the war to include the following: Returning the residents of the north securely to their homes. Israel will continue to act to implement this objective,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.
The addition of this first goal touching on the ongoing fighting on Israel’s northern border signals a growing shift of Israel’s focus and resources, from the war in the Gaza Strip toward tackling the incessant attacks from Lebanon carried out by Hezbollah.
The other declared goals of the war are the return of the Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity, and the destruction of the terror group’s military and governance capabilities.
While the declaration was initially pushed by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, he is reported to prefer continuing diplomatic efforts led by the U.S. to find an agreement and prevent an all-out war that is expected to be much harder on Israel than the Gaza War has been.
The IDF recently announced the defeat of Hamas’ Rafah brigade, one of the last units of the terror group to fight as a coherent formation. Now, the fighting in Gaza mainly concentrates on dismantling Hamas’ massive terror infrastructure, mainly its tunnel network, and rescuing the Israeli hostages.
In recent weeks, the focus of Israel’s political leadership has increasingly shifted north. Since a large-scale preemptive strike by the IDF prevented a significant attack planned by Hezbollah some weeks ago, numerous Israeli leaders have threatened that an Israeli offensive starting an all-out war may be coming closer.
Within the top leadership, a struggle has reportedly broken out over how to solve the situation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering to fire Defense Minister Gallant over his lack of support for an Israeli offensive, and replace him with the more hawkish Gideon Sa’ar.
According to media reports, Netanyahu is backing the IDF Northern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Uri Gordin, who has been pushing the political leadership to approve a military offensive to change the situation on the northern frontier.
Gordin has lobbied leaders for some time to greenlight a ground offensive with the aim of capturing a buffer zone in southern Lebanon along the Israeli border to prevent Hezbollah from using the area to stage attacks.
Israel Hayom said that Gordin favors a quick, large-scale ground incursion, believing that the losses that Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force sustained in the fighting so far and the flight of some 80% of the civilians in the area, will enable the IDF to quickly push out the rest of the terror group’s fighters.
Netanyahu reportedly supports a military offensive but wants it to be more limited than the large invasion that Gordin has in mind.
The prime minister and Gallant both told U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein on Monday that Israel increasingly doesn’t see another way to end Hezbollah’s attacks than through a military operation.
Hochstein in return warned that a broader operation not only wouldn’t enable the return of the tens of thousands of evacuated citizens, but also risks a regional conflagration.
