Israel eyes end of January as target for deal on Lebanon border, or may escalate fight — report

Israel is eyeing an end-of-January timeframe for reaching a long-term diplomatic agreement on the Lebanon front with Hezbollah, but will likely escalate fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah if a deal is not secured, The Washington Post reports, citing a Western diplomat and three Lebanese officials.

A US official told the publication that Israel has not put forward a “hard deadline” but the officials cited that Jerusalem was looking toward the end of January as a target for a potential agreement, as Washington works to avoid a new front to the war.

The US official said the window of opportunity for talks was narrowing.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat told The Washington Post: “The Israeli position is that we prefer a diplomatic solution, and if a diplomatic solution will not be possible, we will have to act on our own.”

In a call Thursday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his American counterpart Lloyd Austin that Israel was nearing a decision point on Lebanon, as Hezbollah presses its daily attacks on the northern border.

Since October 8, a day after the deadly Hamas killing spree on southern Israel, Hezbollah has engaged in cross-border fire on a near-daily basis, launching rockets, drones and missiles at northern Israel in a campaign it says is in support of Hamas. The attacks forced most residents several kilometers from the border to evacuate. Israel has responded with its own regular strikes on Hezbollah targets, and has warned it will not be able to tolerate the terrorists’ continued presence on the border.

Lebanese officials said Thursday that Hezbollah had rebuffed Washington’s initial proposal for stopping clashes with Israel, including pulling its fighters further from the border, but remained open to US diplomacy to avoid a ruinous war.

In his call with Austin Thursday, Gallant said Israel had a duty to restore security and return evacuated Israeli residents to their communities along the border, and although Israel would prefer to do this through diplomacy, it was “prepared to do this through military force,” a statement from the defense minister’s office said.

Touring the Lebanon border Friday, Gallant said that “as long as fighting continues in the south, there will be fighting in the north.”

“But we will not accept this reality for an extended period. There will come a moment when if we do not reach a diplomatic agreement in which Hezbollah respects the right of the residents to live here in security, we will have to ensure that security by force,” he said.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.