Israeli defense minister says cease-fire in Gaza may not apply to fighting Hezbollah

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday a pause in fighting in the Gaza Strip may not apply to fighting Hezbollah on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

"If Hezbollah thinks that when there is a cease-fire in the south it will hold fire and we’ll stop, it’s making a big mistake," he said in a televised statement cited by the Times of Israel news website.

Gallant said until Israel reaches "a situation in which it’s possible to restore security for residents of the north, we will not stop."

He added that if security is restored, whether through diplomatic arrangement or military means, "we can be calm."

Gallant vowed in December to push Hezbollah beyond the Litani River in southern Lebanon.

"We aim to reinstate security for the residents via an international political arrangement to push Hezbollah beyond the Litani, in accordance with UN Resolution 1701,” he said.

Lebanon, however, said last month that it is ready to "fully" implement the resolution.

“Lebanon is ready to fully implement Resolution 1701 provided that Israel withdraws from occupied Lebanese lands and stops its violations of Lebanese sovereignty," Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said Jan. 8.

The resolution calls for a full cessation of hostilities and Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

Tension has flared along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah since early October, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.

The border tension comes amid an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, which has left at least 27,131 Palestinians dead and 66,287 injured.

Israel said nearly 1,200 people have been killed in the Hamas attack.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar