Israel’s top general commanding the restive northern frontier has reportedly begun actively lobbying leaders to okay a ground offensive into southern Lebanon with the goal of securing a buffer zone and halting Hezbollah’s attacks on Israeli settlements in the Galilee, amid disagreements over the matter among politicians and defense brass.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is believed to oppose a major military operation in Lebanon at this time, according to reports in Israeli media, while Netanyahu has appeared at least outwardly in favor of an operation, with one report suggesting he had threatened to fire Gallant over the issue.
Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, the head of the Israeli army’s Northern Command, is pressuring decision-makers to launch a large-scale incursion into Lebanon, while Gallant and Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi have expressed doubts over launching a war against Hezbollah, which is a more formidable enemy than the Hamas group Israel is currently fighting in Gaza, Israel’s Kan TV and Channel 13 reported Sunday and Monday.
According to the reports, Gallant believes now is not the right time for such action, and wants to give a chance to efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution in the north and a ceasefire-hostage deal in Gaza.
In a call with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin overnight, Gallant said the possibility of reaching a diplomatic solution on the border was passing, cautioning that Israel is committed to pushing Hezbollah away from the border and allowing residents to return to their homes in the north, according to a statement from the defense minister’s office Monday morning.
Hezbollah, which began launching attacks on Israel in support of Hamas a day after the Gazan group’s October 7 attack in southern Israel, has said it will stop firing only once the war in Gaza ends, though many Israelis fear the north will remain under threat as long as Hezbollah forces are able to operate along the border.
Gordin, according to the Israel Hayom daily, has recommended in recent closed-door meetings that the army be given the green light to seize and occupy a buffer zone in southern Lebanon. The report said Gordin believes pushing Hezbollah fighters away from the border would be achievable quickly, with most elite Hezbollah forces along the border having been killed in Israeli strikes or having already fled north, and with an estimated 80 percent of civilians in southern Lebanon also thought to have left the area.
Such a move would likely risk all-out war against Hezbollah, thought to have an arsenal of 150,000 rockets, including advanced precision missiles supplied by Iran that it could use to bomb Israel for weeks. However, the reports suggested that Gordin believes such a move would secure northern Israel in the long term and obtain leverage for a more advantageous diplomatic solution.