Analysis: What is behind Netanyahu’s expansion of war goals to Lebanon?
The announcement that Israel’s security cabinet has expanded its war objectives to include the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes has raised fears of a possible all-out war with Lebanon.
Mohamad Elmasry, professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, has told Al Jazeera that while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long promised to open a northern front, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had so far been cautious.
Yet, Gallant’s remarks on Monday that the window was closing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon signalled a shift, just as the Israeli media is reporting that Netanyahu is looking to replace him.
“Gallant is taking very seriously these [reports] that Netanyahu is prepared to dismiss him,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera, adding that such threats may be “influencing his decision-making” and eroding his resolve to oppose a military intervention in Lebanon.
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