Israel has added another objective to its ongoing conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah: ensuring the safe return of residents from communities along its border with Lebanon to their homes. <\/p>\n
The country\u2019s security cabinet voted on the measure during a late night meeting that lasted into the early hours of Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said, adding that \u201cIsrael will continue to act to implement this objective.\u201d <\/p>\n
Though the return of residents of northern Israel has long been understood to be a political necessity, this is the first time it has been made an official war goal. <\/p>\n
Officials and residents from Israel\u2019s northern region have become increasingly vocal about the need to return to their homes, piling pressure on the government to act against the threat of Hezbollah\u2019s rockets from southern Lebanon. <\/p>\n
The addition of the new war aim may push Israel to shift its military focus to its northern front as it warns that its patience for reaching a diplomatic solution with Hezbollah is running thin. <\/p>\n
Earlier on Monday, Netanyahu told US envoy Amos Hochstein in Tel Aviv that it won\u2019t be possible to return the northern residents without a \u201cfundamental change in the security situation in the north,\u201d according to his office. He added that Israel will \u201cdo what is necessary\u201d to safeguard the region\u2019s security and return the residents to their homes. <\/p>\n
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was however more specific, saying in a post on X after meeting Hochstein that the only way to allow the residents of the north to return is \u201cthough military action.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hochstein cautioned Netanyahu against initiating a wider war in Lebanon, Axios reported, citing sources it didn\u2019t identify. <\/p>\n
Hezbollah has said that it will end its attacks on Israel when Israel ends its war in Gaza. <\/p>\n
The addition to Israel\u2019s war aims comes amid reports in Israel that Netanyahu plans to replace Gallant with a former rival politician, Gideon Sa\u2019ar. Unlike Gallant, who served for decades in the Israel Defense Forces, Sa\u2019ar is a near lifelong politician. Reports of his potential appointment as defense minister have already caused a stir in Israel\u2019s political and military establishment. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s attempt to fire Gallant in March last year due to Gallant\u2019s opposition to the government\u2019s plan to overhaul the judiciary prompted large public protests. The prime minister eventually backed down. On Monday evening, crowds gathered outside Sa\u2019ar\u2019s house in Tel Aviv to protest his potential appointment and express concerns about its possible impact on the fate of the hostages in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Opposition leader Benny Gantz on Tuesday slammed reports of Gallant\u2019s potential dismissal. <\/p>\n
\u201cReplacing a minister of defense on the brink of a possible more intense campaign in the north, which could turn into a regional war is, in my opinion, is irresponsible security-wise,\u201d he said in a statement. He said the addition of the new war aim was \u201cbetter late than never.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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