Netanyahu says Gaza ops winding down, focus shifts to Hezbollah

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will end the intense stage of fighting in Gaza soon and redeploy some forces to northern Israel where violence with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah has escalated and triggered fears of another all-out conflict.

Israel will now use more targeted operations against Hamas in Gaza, Mr Netanyahu said when asked, in a TV interview with Israel’s Channel 14 aired late on June 23, whether fighting in the southern city of Rafah will end in a month’s time. 

“It will be very soon,” Mr Netanyahu said in his first interview with an Israeli media outlet since the Oct 7 attacks in which Hamas militants invaded from Gaza, killing 1,200 people, kidnapping another 250 and triggering what has now become an eight-month war with Israel. 

Mr Netanyahu said the next step will be for Israel to redeploy some forces to northern Israel, where cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah have spiked, and to bring home local residents who were evacuated. 

“If we can, we’ll do this by diplomatic means, if not it’ll be achieved in another way,” Mr Netanyahu said, echoing weeks of escalating rhetoric between Israel and Hezbollah.

US officials have been concerned that open warfare may break out between Israel and Hezbollah, the political party and heavily armed militia in Lebanon backed by Iran. The war in Gaza has stirred longstanding frictions with Hezbollah and other Iran-backed proxy groups in the Middle East.

Israel’s military said last week that operational planning for an offensive in Lebanon had been approved.

Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza in 2023 – aimed at returning the hostages and uprooting Hamas as a military and political entity – has killed some 37,000 Palestinians, according to the authorities in the Hamas-run enclave who do not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union.

In the interview, Mr Netanyahu directly rejected, for the first time, the prospect of a ceasefire deal with Hamas that could eventually lead to the end of war – as laid out in a speech by US President Joe Biden several weeks ago.

“If there is an agreement, it will be on our terms and that would not mean ending the war, withdrawing from Gaza and leaving Hamas rule intact,” he said. 

“I am willing to agree to a partial deal that will see some of the Israeli hostages come home, and after such ceasefire ends, we will be committed to continuing the fighting until the goal of eliminating Hamas is completed,” he said.

His interview angered families of hostages, who blame him for abandoning the group of 120 that remains in Gaza. This is “violating the country’s moral duty towards its citizens”, said a statement by hostage family members issued after the interview.

Mr Netanyahu’s office issued a statement later saying he was in fact committed to bringing back all the hostages. 

“It is Hamas that opposes a deal, not Israel,” the statement read. “Netanyahu has made clear we will not leave Gaza until we return all hostages, living and deceased.” BLOOMBERG