JERUSALEM: Israel on Tuesday expanded its stated goals of the war in Gaza to include enabling residents to return to communities in northern Israel that have been evacuated due to attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The decision was approved during an overnight meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, Netanyahu’s office said.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel a day later and fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border has since escalated, threatening to ignite a regional conflict.
Tens of thousands of Israelis were evacuated from towns along the northern frontier that have been badly damaged by rocket fire and they have yet to return.

BEIRUT: One Hezbollah member was killed, and three were wounded in intense Israeli airstrikes on Monday on the border town of Hula.

The airstrikes destroyed several buildings, adding to the destruction of other residential areas that were leveled in the town, which has seen its residents flee.

The escalation of Israeli hostilities in southern Lebanon coincided with the arrival of Amos Hochstein, US envoy to the Middle East, in Tel Aviv.

His visit aims to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah and avoid a full-scale war after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intent to “expand military operations in the north.”

The explosions from the missiles “felt like an earthquake,” Samer, a resident living near the targeted border area, told Arab News.

“The ground shook under our feet, even though we were dozens of kilometers away from the airstrikes.

“Now, the strikes target groups of houses at once, unlike before when it was just a single building or home.”

Israeli artillery also shelled the outskirts of the towns of Kfarkela, Kfarchouba, Aita Al-Shaab, and Hanine in the Bint Jbeil district.

Ali Shbib Shehab, the mayor of Hanine, told Arab News: “The town is being destroyed daily. It is a town about 2,000 meters from the border and has lost four civilian martyrs so far, women and children, while eight other civilians were injured. Around 50 homes have been destroyed either partially or entirely.

“It is a small town, and those who remain are farmers who hold on to their land and insist on staying despite the daily shelling.”

A security source stated: “The area from Odaisseh to Kfarkela is now empty of residents, while in the Bint Jbeil — Mays Al-Jabal — Hula axis, some residents remain in their homes, relying on aid.”

Israeli leaflets were dropped on Saturday over the Lebanese agricultural border area of Wazzani, calling on the remaining residents to evacuate by 4 p.m.

However, the Israeli army denied dropping the leaflets, claiming it was an “individual act” by an officer in the northern brigade.

An Israeli artillery shelling on the border town of Adaisseh on Sunday evening resulted in injuries to four residents of the city, who were in the process of transporting household items outside the area.

Previously, owners of commercial establishments storing their goods in warehouses located in border towns, particularly in Mays Al-Jabal, coordinated with the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which in turn liaised with the Israeli side.

Over the past two weeks, goods and household items from homes and shops were evacuated in phases to prevent damage, as the conflict approaches a year since its inception.

Israeli media reported on Monday that “the commander of the Northern Command of the Israeli army, Ori Gordin, recommended during closed sessions that the military be permitted to take control of a security buffer zone in southern Lebanon.”

The Israeli side aims to distance Hezbollah forces to ensure they do not pose a threat to the northern residents while also exerting pressure on Hezbollah to reach a lasting settlement.

Netanyahu has threatened to carry out a large-scale military operation against Hezbollah.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the visiting Hochstein on Monday that prospects were dimming for a halt to nearly a year of fighting with Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Gallant on Monday met with Hochstein to discuss Israeli military operations against Hezbollah and the plight of Israelis displaced by the cross-border strikes, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

He “emphasized that the possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict,” the statement said.

“Therefore, the only way left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes will be via military action.”

Earlier on Monday, the ministry said Gallant delivered a similar message by phone to his US counterpart Lloyd Austin about time “running out” for an agreement to end the conflict.

Israel “is committed to removing Hezbollah from southern Lebanon and ensuring the safe return of Israeli residents to their homes in the northern and border areas,” Gallant said.

In response to Netanyahu’s remarks on Monday concerning the potential expansion of the conflict to the northern front, Hezbollah MP Hussein Ezzedine asserted that Israel was “unable to extend the war to any additional front.”

He said the exhausted and worn-out army in Gaza had not yet reached an end to the current operations and could not assert victory in Gaza.

“Therefore, how can it contemplate opening a new front with Lebanon or any other location?”

Ezzedine affirmed that “the resistance is strong, capable, and prepared for any unexpected developments that the enemy may attempt to surprise us with, and it continues its daily operational activities that deplete the capabilities of the Israeli army.”

Israeli Channel 12 reported on Monday that several rockets launched from Lebanon struck the Metula settlement, resulting in damage to a building and the outbreak of fire.

Hezbollah announced that it targeted the positions of Israeli enemy soldiers in the vicinity of the Metula site using missile weapons.

It also targeted the Birkat Reisha site with artillery shells and the Israeli army’s artillery positions in Za’oura with rockets.

On Sunday, Hezbollah executed military operations against 10 Israeli military installations, which included an assault on the headquarters of the 188th Brigade’s armored battalions located in the Rawiya barracks with numerous Katyusha rockets.

Additionally, an attack drone was deployed to strike a technical system at the Al-Malikiyah site, achieving a direct hit. Another attack drone targeted Israeli soldiers at the Metula site.

Espionage equipment at the Ruwaysat Al-Alam site in the occupied Kfar Shuba hills was struck with a guided missile, while Israeli positions in Za’oura and further espionage equipment at the Ramya site were also targeted using guided missiles.

The Samaka site in the occupied Kfar Shuba hills was attacked with rocket weaponry, and buildings utilized by soldiers in the Shlomi settlement were also hit.

Furthermore, Hezbollah conducted an aerial assault employing a squadron of suicide drones on the headquarters of the Golan Division’s military assembly battalion in the Yarden barracks, accurately targeting the positions and settlements of their officers and soldiers, resulting in multiple casualties.

Additionally, Israeli artillery positions in Dishon were targeted with rockets.