Returning Northern Residents Now a Major War Aim

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) issued a statement Tuesday morning declaring that the security cabinet has formally expanded its war objectives to include the safe return of evacuated residents to their homes in northern Israel. This largely symbolic announcement is the latest indication that the center of gravity in the war is shifting from the Gaza Strip to the northern border region.

According to the Knesset Research and Information Center, approximately 68,500 residents of northern communities remain evacuated, although many more residents of the Galilee have evacuated on their own initiative out of fears that the war could quickly escalate.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have both stated publicly in recent days that the IDF should begin to prepare for major ground operations in Lebanon, as efforts at diplomacy have been given more than enough time and have failed. Leader of the Knesset opposition Yair Lapid said the same thing this week in meetings with US officials in Washington.

On Monday, US Special Envoy Amos Hoshstein visited Israel as part of ongoing US efforts to forestall a major war.

“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,” the PMiO said Monday, paraphrasing the message Netanyahu had for Hochstein.

It will not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the North,” Netanyahu added.

Elsewhere, French Ambassador to Israel Frederic Journes spoke at the Haaretz National Security Conference on Monday, explaining that “Hezbollah sees itself as the so-called Axis of Resistance. If they accept... a separate settlement with Israel while the war is ongoing in Gaza, it means they abandon Hamas.” He added that the frustrated efforts at achieving a cease-fire in Gaza is “this huge thing, which has been blocking everything, which is limiting our efforts, which is limiting American efforts.”