Officials Say Israel Nearing Full-Scale War Against Hezbollah

Israeli officials said Tel Aviv is moving closer to a full-scale war with Hezbollah. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah have traded fire along the Lebanon-Israel border since October 7. 

IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said Monday, “We are closer today to war [with Hezbollah] than we were yesterday. And the directive to the IDF is, of course, to enhance readiness to prepare and to be capable of defending Israeli civilians.” At a separate event, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant explained that if “restoring security in the area” could “not be implemented diplomatically, then we will not hesitate to act.”

Last week, an IDF official told Newsweek that Tel Aviv plans to remove Hezbollah from the Lebanese border. “We will not return to the situation that was on the 6th of October in the north. It means we will not allow our civilians neither in the Gaza envelope nor on the Lebanese border to be under this threat.” The official continued, “We are prepared for [war with Hezbollah]. We are on alert for that. We have the people, the personnel that is exactly ready for that, but we don’t want to do that yet.”