Israel: Halting Hezbollah Attacks Goal 09/17 06:05

   Israel said Tuesday that halting Hezbollah's attacks in the country's north 
to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal, as it 
considers a wider military operation in Lebanon that could ignite an all-out 
conflict.

   JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel said Tuesday that halting Hezbollah's attacks in 
the country's north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an 
official war goal, as it considers a wider military operation in Lebanon that 
could ignite an all-out conflict.

   Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to take heavier military action 
to halt the near-daily attacks, which began shortly after the outbreak of the 
nearly yearlong Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel has regularly launched 
airstrikes on Lebanon in response and has targeted and killed senior Hezbollah 
commanders.

   As recently as last month it appeared a full-blown war was imminent.

   Tuesday's statement by Israel's security Cabinet signaled a tougher stance 
at a time when Israeli leaders have stepped up their warnings. But it also 
appeared to be largely symbolic and may not herald an immediate change in 
policy.

   The tit-for-tat strikes have displaced tens of thousands of people on both 
sides of the Israeli-Lebanon border. Hezbollah has said it would halt the 
attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, but those talks have repeatedly 
bogged down.

   The United States has pressed for restraint even as it has rushed military 
aid to Israel, warning its close ally that a wider war would not achieve its 
goals.

   Israeli media have 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 who is seen as more 
hawkish. That would be the biggest leadership shakeup in Israel since Hamas' 
Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza and set off wider regional tensions.

   The announcement on Lebanon came after Israel's security Cabinet met late 
into the night. It said the Cabinet has "updated the objectives of the war" to 
include safely returning the residents of the north to their homes.

   "Israel will continue to act to implement this objective," it said.

   U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, who has made several visits to Lebanon and Israel 
to try to ease tensions, met with Netanyahu on Monday.

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

   According to the official, Hochstein argued that Netanyahu risked sparking a 
broad and protracted regional conflict if he moved forward with a full-scale 
war in Lebanon and said the Biden administration remained committed to finding 
a diplomatic solution in conjunction with a Gaza cease-fire or on its own.

   Netanyahu told Hochstein that residents cannot 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 what is necessary to safeguard its 
security."

   Defense Minister Gallant has meanwhile said the focus of the conflict is 
shifting from Gaza to Israel's north. He told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd 
Austin this week that time is running out for an agreement with Hezbollah, 
saying "the trajectory is clear."

   Hezbollah has said that while it does not want a wider war it is prepared 
for one.

   Raed Berro, a member of Hezbollah's bloc in the Lebanese parliament, said 
Monday that the militant group "is ready for confrontation and has a lot in its 
pocket to deter the enemy and protect Lebanon in case Netanyahu thinks of 
expanding the war."

   Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close political ally of 
Hezbollah, largely dismissed the warnings, telling a local newspaper that the 
Lebanese have grown used to the "increasing Israeli threats ... even if their 
tone has become louder recently."

   The war in Gaza began when Hamas launched a surprise attack into southern 
Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. Militants are 
still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead, 
after releasing most of the rest during a cease-fire last year.

   Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 41,000 Palestinians in the 
territory since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry does 
not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little 
over half of those killed were women and children.

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

   Israel and Iran traded fire directly for the first time in April, and Iran 
has threatened to avenge the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an 
explosion in Tehran in July. The targeted killing was widely blamed on Israel, 
which has not said whether it was involved.

   The U.S., Qatar and Egypt have spent most of this year trying to broker an 
agreement in which Hamas would release the hostages in exchange for a lasting 
cease-fire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinians 
imprisoned by Israel.

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