Israel close to completing Gaza missions, now focus is on north, says defence minister

Israel’s armed forces are near to fulfilling their mission in Gaza and their focus will turn to the country’s northern border with Lebanon as daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah take place, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday, Reuters has reported.

“The centre of gravity is moving northward, we are near to completing our tasks in the south, but our mission here is not yet done,” Gallant told troops on Israel’s northern border in a video sent by his office, which confirmed that he was observing a ground combat drill. “These instructions that you are waiting for here today, I gave in the south and saw the forces operate.”

This was a reference to Israel’s ground invasion of the Gaza Strip three weeks after the 7 October cross-border incursion led by Hamas.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on 8 October “in solidarity” with the Palestinians in Gaza, and the two sides have been trading fire since. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced on both sides of the border.

Israeli leaders have said that they would prefer to resolve the conflict through an agreement that would push Iran-backed Hezbollah away from the border. Hezbollah has said that it will continue fighting Israel as long as the war in Gaza is ongoing.

“While we pursue an agreement, I have directed the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] to prepare for every scenario, including directing our attention to the northern arena,” Gallant told journalists separately yesterday. “We are committed to changing the security situation on the northern front and to bringing our citizens home safely.”

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it had killed a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force. The group confirmed his death, but not his role, and said that it fired rockets at Israeli army targets across the border in retaliation.

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