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 most likely be the only way to address mounting hostilities with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
With fears of a broader regional war growing, Israel's internal security agency, Shin Bet, said Tuesday it had thwarted a Hezbollah plot to kill a former senior official in the Israeli security establishment.
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 because of 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 of an agreement to avoid escalation with Hezbollah is running out because the militant group continues 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 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 whom 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 National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Monday on X. “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 replacing Gallant with New Hope party 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 Monday that reports of any negotiations with Sa’ar were “not correct.”
An Israeli official said 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.
Israeli officials have repeatedly suggested war with Hezbollah could be imminent over the past few months, without such a military operation following.
But 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 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 Defense Department readout.
On Tuesday, the Shin Bet said it had prevented an attack targeting a former senior official in Israel's security establishment that was "planned to be carried out in the coming days."
It did not identify the former senior official by name. It said agents uncovered a Claymore explosive device equipped with a remote activation mechanism, with a camera and cellular technology, which it said could allow Hezbollah to activate it from Lebanon.
Hezbollah did not immediately respond to the accusation, and NBC News has not independently verified the claims.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded regular attacks in which thousands of people have been 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 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage.
More than 41,000 people have been killed and thousands more have been injured in Israel’s assault on the Palestinian enclave, according to local health officials.
United Nations human rights experts on Monday condemned Western countries for continuing to support Israel.
“The suffering is unimaginable, and the world continues to remain silent,” said Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Egypt as the U.S. seeks to keep hopes of a cease-fire deal alive. Washington did voice public frustration with Israel’s conduct, pointing to Israeli strikes on schools and humanitarian workers in Gaza.
"The IDF is a professional military and knows well how to ensure that incidents such as these do not happen," said the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
