Israel says stopping Hezbollah attacks is now a war aim, while officials warn of wider operation

JERUSALEM – Israel said on Tuesday that halting Hezbollah attacks in the north of the country to allow residents to return to their homes was now an official war aim as it considers a broader military operation in Lebanon that could trigger a full-scale conflict.

Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to launch tougher military strikes to stop the near-daily attacks that began soon after the nearly year-long war between Israel and Hamas broke out in Gaza. Israel has responded by launching regular airstrikes into Lebanon, targeting and killing senior Hezbollah commanders.

Just last month, it seemed as if a full-blown war was imminent.

The Israeli security cabinet statement on Tuesday signaled a tougher stance at a time when Israeli leaders have been ratcheting up their warnings. But it also appeared to be largely symbolic and may not herald an immediate change in policy.

The mutual attacks have displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border. Hezbollah has promised to stop the attacks if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, but these talks keep stalling.

The United States urged restraint even as it rushed to provide military aid to Israel, warning its close ally that a major war would not achieve its goals.

Israeli media meanwhile reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replacing him with Gideon Saar, the leader of a small right-wing party considered more belligerent. This would be the biggest leadership change in Israel since the October 7 Hamas attack sparked the war in Gaza and further increased regional tensions.

The announcement on Lebanon came after Israel's security cabinet met late into the night. It said the cabinet had “updated the objectives of the war” to include the safe return of northern residents to their homes.

“Israel will continue to work to achieve this goal,” it said.

US envoy Amos Hochstein, who has made several trips to Lebanon and Israel as part of his efforts to ease tensions, met with Netanyahu on Monday.

A U.S. official who spoke about the private talks on condition of anonymity told Hochstein to Netanyahu that escalating the conflict with Hezbollah would not help Israelis evacuated from the border area return to their homes.

Hochstein argued, according to the official, that Netanyahu risks sparking a broad and protracted regional conflict by pushing for a full-scale war in Lebanon, and said the Biden administration remains committed to finding a diplomatic solution in conjunction with a ceasefire in Gaza or on its own.

Netanyahu told Hochstein that residents could not 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” U.S. support, Israel “will do whatever is necessary to ensure its security.”

Defense Secretary Gallant, meanwhile, said the focus of the conflict is shifting from the Gaza Strip to northern Israel. He told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week that he was running out of time to reach an agreement with Hezbollah, saying: “The direction is clear.”

Hezbollah has stated that while it does not want a major war, it is prepared for one.

Raed Berro, a member of the Hezbollah bloc in the Lebanese parliament, said on Monday that the militant group was “ready for confrontation and has a lot in its pocket to deter the enemy and protect Lebanon if Netanyahu considers expanding the war.”

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close political ally of Hezbollah, largely dismissed the warnings, telling a local newspaper that Lebanese had become accustomed to “increasing Israeli threats … even if their tone has become louder recently.”

The war in Gaza began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. The militants still hold around 100 prisoners, a third of whom are believed dead, after most of the rest were released during a ceasefire last year.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the area since October 7 as a result of the Israeli retaliatory offensive. The ministry makes no distinction between fighters and civilians in its count, but says that just over half of those killed were women and children.

Iran supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other militant groups across the region that have carried out attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets in solidarity with the Palestinians. A rocket fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen set off air raid sirens in central Israel on Sunday, without causing any casualties. Israel has hinted at a military response.

April marked the first direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran. Iran threatened to avenge the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion in Tehran in July. Blame for the targeted killing was widely placed on Israel, which has not commented on its involvement.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent most of this year trying to reach an agreement that would see Hamas release the hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinians detained by Israel.

President Joe Biden approved the framework of the agreement in May and the UN Security Council backed it a few days later. But since then, Israel and Hamas have accused each other of making new and unacceptable demands and the talks appear to be at an impasse.

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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Abby Sewell and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

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