Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday vowed to push back Hezbollah terrorists north of the Litani River, in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War with the Iranian proxy.
“We deal with both removing threats and preparing all the possibilities to be able to attack wherever we decide,” said Gallant during a visit to an IDF intelligence base in northern Israel. He was briefed on the intelligence operations that enabled last month’s targeted killing in Beirut of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr, also known as al-Hajj Mohsin.
“We are determined to fulfill our mission—we must allow the safe return of [Israel’s northern] residents to their homes, once we ensure that Hezbollah withdraws north of the Litani River,” added the defense minister.
The Biden administration has rejected Jerusalem’s demand that a diplomatic deal to end the current low-intensity conflict in the north be based on the implementation of Resolution 1701, which calls for a demilitarized zone from the U.N.-demarcated Israel-Lebanon Blue Line border to the Litani River some 18 miles to the north.
President Joe Biden’s envoy Amos Hochstein has been jetting between Beirut, Paris and Jerusalem trying to mediate a deal that would require Hezbollah to withdraw its forces around 10 km. (6.2 miles) from the border.
According to The New York Times, Hochstein’s proposal would also require the IDF to withdraw from some of its positions along the border and see the U.S. transfer billions of dollars in reconstruction and other economic aid to the Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese government.
The vast majority of Israelis agree that the safety of northern residents can only be secured by a diplomatic agreement requiring Iranian-backed Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River, according to a JNS/Direct Polls survey of public opinion carried out on July 9.
On Tuesday, Gallant also held a meeting with the head of IDF Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, to discuss the military’s operational readiness.
“I am aware of the tensions and the great burden placed on the citizens of Israel. We are closely following what is happening—also in Beirut, in Tehran and in additional places,” said Gallant.
“Thanks to the people at this base and in many places all over the country—at sea, on land, and in the air—the citizens of Israel can maintain their routine lives, but must remain vigilant, alert and ready,” he added.
Iran on Tuesday rejected calls by Western countries to back down from its threat to attack Israel over the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
Tehran’s Foreign Ministry said that the calls from France, Germany and Britain to exercise restraint “lack political logic and contradict principles of international law.”
Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah have accused Israel of killing Haniyeh, but Jerusalem has not taken responsibility. Separately, Hezbollah has vowed revenge for the killing of Shukr, which Israel did take credit for.
Three senior Iranian officials said on Tuesday that only a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza can prevent an Islamic Republic attack on Israel.
One of the sources, a senior security official, said that Iran and its regional terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah, would carry out a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or if Jerusalem is perceived to be dragging out the negotiations.
Iran has been conducting an “intense dialogue” with the United States and other Western countries on “ways to calibrate retaliation,” the sources said.
