Gallant tells troops on northern border to be patient as Israel aims to strike deal to restore calm

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells troops on the northern border to be patient, as Israel will still attempt to reach an agreement with Hezbollah to stop the terror group’s attacks on the north.

“I came here for a reason. We have to prepare and take into account that anything can happen,” he says to artillery forces after holding an assessment at the Northern Command in Safed and a tour of the border city of Kiryat Shmona.

“As I told the troops before we entered Gaza, and they didn’t believe me, I also tell you: Wait, we will [act],” Gallant says.

“We will reach a situation where we return our residents safely, we want to exhaust every chance to do it by an agreement because we know that war has a price and we prefer to avoid it, but you have to take into account that [war] could happen,” he says.

“I understand the amount of damage [in Israel], but on the other side, the damage and the number of terrorists who were killed are of completely different orders of magnitude,” Gallant adds.