News Mania Desk/ Piyal Chatterjee / 17th September 2024
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his objectives for the Gaza War have grown to include facilitating the return of Israelis who have fled to locations close to the Lebanese border. Since Israel started its attack on Gaza about a year ago, there has been practically daily cross-border gunfire between Israeli forces and the militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran in Lebanon.
Tens of thousands of people have been evicted from their houses as a result of the swaps, which also carry the risk of sparking a larger regional conflict.Netanyahu’s security cabinet met overnight and decided to include “the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” according to a statement released by his office on Tuesday.
The choice was made the day after Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated to a visiting US envoy that “military action” was the “sole means remaining to guarantee the return of Israel’s northern communities.”
Gallant cautioned that time was “running out” despite Hezbollah officials’ declaration that the organization would disband if a ceasefire was achieved in Gaza.
The battle that started on October 7 after Hamas launched an unexpected onslaught on Israel, killing at least 1,139 people and seizing more than 200 hostages, has not stopped despite months of talks and sporadic diplomacy. Over 41,000 Palestinians have died and over 95,000 have been injured as a result of the Israeli attack.
The US is “expeditiously” working on a new plan that “secures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security,” according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Netanyahu has insisted on an Israeli military presence on the border between Egypt and Gaza and has openly dismissed US estimates that the deal is almost finalized.He is refusing to budge in response to growing domestic and international pressure to accept a deal for the release of Israeli prisoners that is widely supported by the Israeli public.
Hezbollah claimed “dozens” of attacks on Israeli forces on Monday along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. The Israeli military also claimed to have hit “terrorist” targets in Lebanon.
Gallant told visiting US ambassador Amos Hochstein that “the possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas,” according to a statement from the Defense Ministry.Later on, Netanyahu confided in Hochstein that he wants to see a “fundamental change” in the level of security along Israel’s northern border.
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Saturday that his group had “no intention of going to war”, but if Israel does “unleash” one, “there will be large losses on both sides”.
