Israeli official says military’s goals in Lebanon much narrower than in Gaza

An Israeli security official says he expects a possible war against Hezbollah would not last for as long as the current war in Gaza because the Israeli military’s goals are much narrower.

The official says Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas’s military and political regime in Gaza, but the goal in Lebanon is just to push Hezbollah away from the border with Israel. That is “not a high bar like Gaza” in terms of operational objectives, says the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military briefing guidelines.

The official says that no decision has been made on whether Israel will carry out a ground operation in southern Lebanon. But he stresses that the military is training for this possibility every day and is ready to implement it.

He adds that Israel still sees Resolution 1701, the United Nations-brokered resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, as the best solution for lasting stability. But that the resolution must be enforced by an international force that is able to keep Hezbollah from setting up infrastructure close to the border with Israel. He says Israel’s punishing aerial bombardments this week, which killed more than 600 people in Lebanon, represent Israel’s decision to start enforcing the resolution on their own.