The Israeli prime minister said the war’s goals should include the return of Israelis who fled areas near the Lebanese border.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his goals for the Gaza war had expanded to include allowing Israelis who fled areas near the Lebanese border to return home.
Since Israel began its war on Gaza nearly a year ago, cross-border fire has taken place almost daily between Israeli forces and the Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
The exchanges have forced tens of thousands of people on both sides from their homes and threaten to spark a wider regional conflict.
The decision to include “the safe return of northerners to their homes” was approved at a nighttime meeting of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, his office said in a statement Tuesday.
The move comes a day after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a visiting U.S. envoy that “military action” was the “only remaining means to ensure the return of communities in northern Israel.”
Hezbollah officials have said the group would withdraw if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, but Gallant warned that time “is running out.”
Months of negotiations and shuttle diplomacy have failed to secure a truce to end the fighting that began on October 7 after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing at least 1,139 people and taking more than 200 prisoners. The Israeli attack killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 95,000.
The ceasefire will be at the center of discussions when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Egypt later on Tuesday.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States was working “expeditiously” on a new proposal that “ensures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people and helps establish broader regional security.”
Netanyahu has publicly rejected U.S. assessments that the deal is close to being finalized and has insisted on an Israeli military presence on the Egypt-Gaza border.
Growing international and domestic pressure has failed to persuade him to accept a captive release deal that enjoys broad support among Israeli public opinion.
Along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Hezbollah claimed “dozens” of attacks on Israeli positions on Monday, and the Israeli military said it had struck “terrorist” targets in Lebanon.
“The possibility of a deal is diminishing as Hezbollah continues to ally itself with Hamas,” Gallant told visiting U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, according to a Defense Department statement.
Netanyahu later told Hochstein that he wanted a “fundamental change” in the security situation on Israel’s northern border.
Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem said Saturday that his group had “no intention of going to war,” but if Israel “started” one, “there would be heavy losses on both sides.”
