Security chiefs said to tell ministers they’ll do whatever’s needed against Hezbollah to restore security to north

Senior defense officials reportedly told security cabinet ministers yesterday that the IDF will not hesitate to use any means necessary to fulfill the government requirement to enable the safe return to their homes of tens of thousands of residents of the north, who have been displaced for almost a year by Hezbollah’s rocket fire.

These comments, reported by Channel 12 news, appear to underline the assessment that Israel wants to avoid a full-scale war with Hezbollah, but has not ruled it out if there is no other means to restore calm to the border.

According to the TV report, ministers were told by the security chiefs in their meeting yesterday: “The strategy [being followed by the IDF in Lebanon] is to change the balance of power in the north. The goal is two-fold: To strengthen deterrence against Hezbollah and return the residents of the north in safety to their homes, while deterring the entire Iranian axis and first of all Iran itself.”

“We are continuing the incremental strategy,” the security chiefs reportedly said: “Each time, we move up one stage and then another stage, and as the days go by, Hezbollah will increasingly internalize the IDF’s power.”

“We want to disconnect the Lebanon front from the Gaza front,” the officials reportedly added. “Thus far, [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah has continued with his not-quite-a-war [approach]. We will compel him by force to halt his fire, without any relation to [what’s going on with] Hamas, whatever the cost. We won’t hesitate to utilize any means in order to achieve the goal designated by the cabinet.”

The cabinet last week added the imperative to enable the safe return of residents of the north to Israel’s formal war goals.

According to the TV report, however, the security chiefs also told the ministers that only a halt to fighting in Gaza would enable Israel to leverage its military achievements in Lebanon into a strategic arrangement for the north.

The report says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently holding another security consultation with security chiefs, attended by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri.

It also says security cabinet members signed documents today saying they won’t leak the content of their meetings.