Benjamin Netanyahu announces “updated war goals” against Hamas, Hezbollah

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced an expansion of the country’s war goals, including the return of northern residents who fled cross-border gunfire with Hamas’ ally Hezbollah.

“The political-security cabinet updated the war goals this evening so that they include the following section: the safe return of residents of the north to their homes,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

The Israeli military and the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group have carried out almost daily attacks since the war in the Gaza Strip broke out following an October 7 attack by Hamas.

Hezbollah says the campaign is in support of its Palestinian ally.

Hezbollah officials have said the group will withdraw if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, while Israel insists it cannot allow militants to remain in the border region south of Lebanon.

The violence has killed hundreds of people in Lebanon, most of them fighters, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side.

The fighting has forced tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes.

On Monday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Galant told a US envoy that “military action” was the only way left to “ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes”.