Netanyahu: All-out War With Hezbollah May Be Necessary to Secure Return of Northern Israeli Evacuees
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – While still fighting Hamas in Gaza, Israel has told the United States that, contrary to what the Biden administration believes, an all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon may be necessary to ensure tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from northern Israel can return to their homes, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Some 60,000 Israelis living close to the border with Lebanon have been evacuated since the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group began firing thousands of missiles at northern Israeli towns in solidarity with Hamas following the October 7 attack on Israel.
According to a statement issued by the PM’s office on Monday, Netanyahu told US special envoy Amos Hochstein, who visited Israel on Sunday to try and ensure a diplomatic resolution to Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah, that:
“Israel appreciates and respects the support of the United States but, in the end, will do what is necessary to maintain its security and return the residents of the North to their homes safely. “
It will not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the North,” Netanyahu said. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is reported to have added at the same meeting with Hochstein: “The only way left to return the residents of the North to their homes is via military action.”
The United States does not want to see a full war between Israel and Hezbollah and is seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis, JPost reports. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller explained in a statement that: “We have long made clear that we believe a diplomatic solution is the correct way, the only way, to bring calm to the north of Israel and allow Israeli citizens to return to their homes.”