Top general said pushing for ground incursion to create south Lebanon buffer zone

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.

Kan reported that Netanyahu is pushing for an operation in Lebanon, albeit a more limited one, with an unnamed associate of the premier threatening to replace Gallant “if (he) tries to thwart an operation in the north.”

An unnamed government official denied the report, Kan said.

A Channel 13 report Sunday meanwhile suggested that while Netanyahu appeared to back Gordin’s position, some have questioned if the normally risk-averse prime minister is just paying lip service to the need for military action, amid growing public cries for an end to the crisis.

Many Israelis have bitter memories of Israel’s last attempt to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, which lasted from 1985 until 2000, when the government pulled out troops under intense public pressure sparked by deadly Hezbollah operations.

Hezbollah has largely had freedom to operate along the border ever since. The sides maintained an uneasy detente after fighting a 34-day war in 2006, until Hezbollah resumed attacks on the north on October 8 this year.

Both Hezbollah and Israel maintain publicly they are not interested in a new all-out war, which would likely cause widespread damage in Israel and destroy much of Lebanon, but are ready to fight if need be. It could also draw in other Iranian proxies, such as Yemen’s Houthis who fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv on Sunday, or Tehran itself.

Speculation regarding an escalation in fighting has ramped up in recent days, with Hezbollah regularly firing volleys of dozens of rockets and explosive drones at evacuated settlements in the largely uninhabited border region and at those further afield.

Israel has responded with daily airstrikes against the group, and has assassinated some of its top commanders and hit arms depots deep inside Lebanon, according to the Israeli army.

According to a Channel 13 report over the weekend, Netanyahu warned security chiefs during discussions on Thursday that Israel was facing a “large-scale confrontation” with Hezbollah, a possibility that he contended would not diminish Israel’s military pressure on Hamas in Gaza.

The report stated that senior defense officials largely agreed that an operation was needed, but disagreements remain over whether Israel has the manpower necessary so long as fighting is ongoing in Gaza.

According to a separate Saturday report by Kan, Gallant has contended that war against Hezbollah would require a reduction of forces in Gaza and could harm the chance of freeing the 101 hostages still captive in the Palestinian enclave.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border and Israel has repeatedly warned that it might resort to military action to return its residents should diplomatic efforts fail.

The cross-border violence since early October has killed 623 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including at least 141 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians.