Senior military official to WSJ: The way to reach calm in north is ‘to escalate’

A senior Israeli military official tells The Wall Street Journal that intensifying Israeli operations is the only way to end clashes with Hezbollah on the northern border with Lebanon.

“There is a way out and it’s to escalate,” the official says. “Israel cannot stop right now. It’s dangerous for the whole region.”

The comments come on the same day as Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem warned that a war with the terror group would lead to Israelis being pushed from the north “once and for all.”

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in nine civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 11 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 289 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 56 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 60 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.

Israel has threatened to go to war to force Hezbollah away from the border if it does not retreat and continues to threaten northern communities, from where some 70,000 people were evacuated to avoid the fighting.