Gantz: North will be dealt with by end of summer, by settlement or airstrike

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz says hostilities on the northern border will be dealt with by the start of the next school year “whether by [diplomatic] arrangement or [military] escalation” and faults Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not joining him and fellow politician Gadi Eizenkot on a tour of the north, which has been scorched by increasingly frequent missile and drone attacks from Hezbollah across the border.

“I’ve been engaged for months in a struggle, with the prime minister and with everyone, so that by September 1, we’ll be done here and will be able to deal with something new. It will pass either by arrangement or escalation, but we can’t lose another year,” he says from Nahariya.

“Truthfully, [Netanyahu] needed to be here today. One who smells the char of the fire, one who hears the residents’ cries, one who speaks with the local leaders, can lead,” Gantz adds, according to a readout from his office.

He appears to endorse reaching a deal in Gaza to free the hostages and allow the military to shift attention to the north.

“It won’t be easy, it will cost us, it will hurt, but it’s the right thing to do,” he says.