Security cabinet makes return of residents to the north an official war goal

The Prime Minister’s Office announces that the security cabinet has updated its official goals for the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza to include a fourth objective: “The safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”

“Israel will continue to act to achieve this goal,” it says.

The motion comes more than eleven months after tens of thousands of northern residents were displaced from their homes following Hamas’s October 7 attack, when Hezbollah began attacking northern Israel on a near-daily basis.

Israel has increasingly threatened to launch a major operation to push back Hezbollah from the border, and the change to the stated war goals comes as US special envoy Amos Hochstein visits Israel in an attempt to reach a diplomatic solution and avoid further escalation.

Until now, the official war goals have been the elimination of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the return of all the hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.