Israel sets new war goal, adding to signs of escalation with Hezbollah

Israel has a new war goal, adding to mounting signs that the conflict could soon expand to the country’s north as it warned the U.S. that “military action” would likely be the only way to addressing mounting hostilities with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office announced late Monday that the security cabinet had updated its list of war objectives to include the safe return of residents who have been displaced from their homes near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon due to months of fighting with Hezbollah.

“Israel will continue to act to implement this objective,” the prime minister’s office said.

In a meeting the same day with Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to President Joe Biden, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the only way to achieve that goal was “via military action.”

Gallant sought to emphasize that the possibility for an agreement to avoid escalation with Hezbollah was running out due to the militant group continuing to “tie itself” to Hamas, his office said in a statement.

It added that the defense minister and a number of other senior Israel Defense Forces officials “presented the IDF’s operations against Hezbollah forces” to Hochstein.

Gallant’s warning came as the defense minister himself appeared to face mounting pressure to adopt a tougher stance on Israel’s approach in the north, as media speculation swirled that Netanyahu was set to fire him amid criticism from right-wing ministers upon which his fragile coalition relies.

“For many months I have been calling on Prime Minister Netanyahu to fire Gallant, and the time has come to do so immediately,” right-wing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a post on X on Monday. “A decision must be made in the north and Gallant is not the right man to lead it.”

Reports from Israeli media suggested Netanyahu had been weighing the possibility of replacing Gallant with New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar, a staunch critic of the government’s handling of Israel’s offensive in Gaza. But the prime minister’s office told NBC News in a statement on Monday that reports of any negotiations with Sa’ar were “not correct.”

An Israeli official told NBC News that one stumbling block in a potential deal with Sa’ar was opposition from Netanyahu’s wife, Sara Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It feels “clear the war drums are beating” toward a wider regional conflict as Netanyahu “faces mounting pressure from his coalition partners and center-right supporters to restore calm in the northern region,” former Israeli intelligence official and negotiator Avi Melamed said in an analysis shared with NBC News.

The U.S. has voiced repeated fears that an expanded military operation from its ally could spark a broader regional war.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned of the “devastating consequences that escalation would have on the people of Israel, Lebanon and the broader region” in a call with Gallant on Sunday, according to a Pentagon readout.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded regular attacks that have seen thousands of people displaced on both sides of the border since the start of Israel’s offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks, in which Israeli officials said some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage.

More than 41,000 people have been killed, with thousands more injured, during Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, according to local health officials.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Egypt as the U.S. seeks to keep hopes of a cease-fire deal alive.