Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in a meeting of the security cabinet that it was only a matter of time before the war on the Israeli-Lebanese border expands, according to remarks reported on Saturday by Israel’s Channel 13.
“We are heading for a vast campaign of one intensity or another,” Netanyahu said in part.
During the discussion, other security officials also said that a political settlement would not be enough to bring the residents back home. According to Channel 13, the two main parameters determining the start of this campaign are the capabilities of the Israeli army, already struggling in multiple theaters, and its legitimacy at the international level.
Cabinet officials believe, however, that extending the war to the border with Lebanon will require a reduction in the military presence in Gaza.
Nevertheless, the hypothesis of an extension of the conflict remains far from unanimous within the cabinet. According to the Israeli media outlet KAN News, Netanyahu remains at odds on this point with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
In addition, the government meeting scheduled for Sunday to discuss the situation in the north has been postponed until Monday, according to Israeli Channel 12.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah have displaced tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israelis and for months have raised fears of a regional conflagration.
Since October, the violence has left 623 people dead in Lebanon, according to an AFP count, and 50 dead on the Israeli side, according to the Israeli army.
