Politics Israeli minister: military action in Lebanon is the only way forward

A possible major war between Israel and the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah is getting closer, according to the government in Jerusalem. According to his office, Defense Minister Joav Galant said at a meeting with US mediator Amos Hochstein that the only way to ensure the return of fleeing Israeli citizens in the north to their homes was "a military operation". The possibility of a diplomatic solution, on the other hand, is receding further and further into the distance because Hezbollah has linked its fate with the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and refuses to end the conflict, said Galant.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said at a meeting with Hochstein that the inhabitants of the border region could not return to their homes "without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north".

Hochstein has been trying for months to de-escalate the volatile situation on the border between Israel and its northern neighbor Hezbollah. According to the Israeli TV station N12, Hochstein warned top Israeli politicians of the dangerous consequences of a major war, which could spread further into the region.

Hezbollah has been firing at Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war almost a year ago and is only prepared to silence its weapons again after a ceasefire in the Palestinian coastal strip. Israel is demanding that Hezbollah also withdraw from the border area, as stipulated by a UN resolution. Since the start of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, tens of thousands of people in both countries have fled the border area.

SDA