Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday, September 17, that the return of residents of the north of the country, who fled due to the almost daily cross-border shootings by the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, was now among his government’s war objectives. “The Political and Security Cabinet updated the war objectives tonight to include the following section: the safe return of northerners (from the country) in their homes”the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office explained in a statement.
Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group have been exchanging strikes almost daily since Hamas’s massive October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the deadly war in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah says the campaign is aimed at bolstering its Palestinian ally. The violence has killed hundreds of people, mostly fighters, in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side. The fighting has also forced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border to flee their homes.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a visiting U.S. envoy on Monday that “military action” was “the only way to ensure the return of communities in northern Israel to their homes”.
