Israel will spend the coming weeks trying to resolve the conflict with Lebanon's Iran-backed group Hezbollah and would prefer a diplomatic solution, Israel's national security adviser said on Tuesday.
Tzachi Hanegbi © Mena Today
Israel will spend the coming weeks trying to resolve the conflict with Lebanon's Iran-backed group Hezbollah and would prefer a diplomatic solution, Israel's national security adviser said on Tuesday.
National security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said Israel had been discussing with U.S. officials the possibility that an expected end of intense Israeli military operations in Gaza would allow an "arrangement" to be reached with Hezbollah.
Iran-backed Hezbollah began attacking Israel from the north shortly after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
Shelling on Israel's northern border has led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from areas on both sides of the frontier, and has escalated in recent weeks, leading to fears of an all-out conflict.
"We and the Americans believe and we will dedicate weeks now in an attempt to reach an arrangement," Hanegbi said at the Herzliya conference.
"If there will not be an arrangement through diplomatic means, everyone understands that there must be an arrangement through other means. For now we prefer to focus on the diplomatic campaign," he said.
Hanegbi also said Israel was discussing with Washington a possible joint effort by the United States, European and some Arab countries to find a replacement for Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip.
Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced Sunday it had come under fire on three separate occasions while Blue Helmet troops were conducting patrols around their bases in Yater, Qalaouiye (Bint Jbeil) and Deir Kifa (Tyre).
Iran's relations with Gulf states will require a "serious review" in light of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, limiting the power of external actors so the region can become prosperous, Tehran's ambassador to Saudi Arabia told Reuters on Sunday.
The Israeli military revealed Sunday that Ayman Mohammad Ghazali, the man who carried out a deadly attack on a Detroit-area synagogue, was the brother of a Hezbollah anti-tank missile unit commander eliminated by an Israeli airstrike just days earlier.
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