Israel threatens Lebanon –

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the current phase of the fight against Hamas in Gaza is coming to an end, paving the way for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The comments threaten to further escalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah at a time when they appear to be moving closer to war. Netanyahu also noted that there is no end in sight to the devastating war in Gaza.

The Israeli leader said in a lengthy televised interview that although the army is close to completing its current ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, that does not mean the war against Hamas is over. But he added that fewer troops will be needed in Gaza, which would free up forces to fight the Hezbollah group.

“We will have the possibility to move some of our forces to the north, and we will do that,” Netanyahu told Israel’s Channel 14 — a television channel favourable to the prime minister — in an interview that was frequently interrupted by applause from the studio audience. “First of all, for defense,” he added, but also to allow tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return home.

Iran-backed Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily, but fighting has escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of a full-blown war.

Hezbollah is much stronger than Hamas, and opening a new front would increase the risk of a wider, regional war involving other Iranian allies and perhaps Iran itself, which could cause heavy damage and massive casualties on both sides of the border.

White House envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week meeting with officials in Israel and Lebanon in an attempt to de-escalate tensions. But fighting has continued.

Netanyahu said he hoped a diplomatic solution could be found to the crisis, but promised to resolve the issue “in a different way” if necessary. “We can fight on several fronts and we are prepared to do so,” he said.

He added that any deal would not just be “an agreement on paper” but would require Hezbollah to be kept away from the border, a compliance mechanism and for Israelis to return to their homes. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated shortly after the fighting broke out and have not been able to return home.

Warning

Hezbollah has said it will continue to fight Israel until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. The group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned Israel last week not to start a war, as Hezbollah has new weapons and intelligence capabilities that could help it attack more critical positions inside Israel.

Hezbollah has already introduced new weapons during low-level combat, including difficult-to-evade drones whose launch is unpredictable.

An Israeli soldier was seriously injured in a drone attack yesterday.

But Israel says it has also shown Hezbollah only a small part of its capabilities and that Lebanon will become a second Gaza if there is a war. Israel’s military said last week it had “approved and validated” a new plan for an offensive in Lebanon.

In the interview, Netanyahu noted that Israel’s offensive in Gaza is winding down. The Israeli military has been operating in the border town of Rafah since early May. He claimed it has inflicted severe damage on Hamas in Rafah, which it has identified as Hamas’s last stronghold after a brutal war that began nearly nine months ago. But he added that Israel must continue “mowing down” operations.

Israel launched its air and ground invasion of Gaza following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, which killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 more captive.

The Israeli offensive has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, triggered a humanitarian crisis and trials for war crimes and genocide in the main international courts in The Hague.

Tensions have also risen between US President Joe Biden and Netanyahu. Yesterday, Netanyahu again mentioned a “drastic decline” in arms deliveries from the United States, Israel’s closest ally, which is hampering the war effort.

Biden has delayed the delivery of certain heavy bombs since May over concerns about civilian casualties, but his administration last week refuted Netanyahu’s allegations that other shipments had also been affected.

Although the United States and other mediators are pushing for a cease-fire plan, Netanyahu has ruled out an end to the war until Israel releases all Hamas-held captives and destroys Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.

The current phase of the war “is about to end,” Netanyahu said. “That does not mean the war is about to end.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Washington for talks with U.S. officials about the war and tensions with Lebanon. And next month, Netanyahu has been invited to the U.S. Congress to deliver a speech that is already dividing Washington along partisan lines. Some Democrats, upset with Netanyahu for his public spat with Biden, have said they will not attend.

U.S. officials have also pressed Netanyahu to lay out a clear postwar plan for Gaza. The United States has said it will not accept a long-term Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory.

Netanyahu expressed a very different view. He said the only way to ensure Israel’s security is if it maintains military control over Gaza.

“There is no one else” capable of doing it, he said. But he said he was looking for a way to create a Palestinian “civil administration” to deal with day-to-day affairs in Gaza, hopefully with the backing of Arab countries. He ruled out any involvement by the Palestinian Authority, which was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007.

Netanyahu said the Israeli military tried several months ago to work with prominent Palestinian families in Gaza, but Hamas immediately “destroyed them.” He added that Israel is now looking for other options.

Netanyahu ruled out an option favored by some of his ultranationalist ruling partners: resettling Israelis in Gaza. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, ending a 38-year presence.

“The issue of settlement is not realistic,” he said. “I am a realist.”