Avoid War On Lebanese Border, Israeli Spokesman: Our Goal Is To Beat Hamas

Israeli military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/IDF Spokesperson's Unit photographer)

JAKARTA - Israel is not interested in fighting on the Lebanese border or the northern front, a government spokesman said, as tensions there escalated and issued a stern warning, underscoring their target is the Hamas militant group.

The Israeli military and the militant group Hezbollah have been involved in armed clashes on the border almost daily since the Hamas militant group's attack on Israeli territory last October 7.

"Israel's position remains unchanged. Israel is not interested in the war on the two fronts. Our main goal remains to defeat and strip Hamas," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman Eylon Levy told The Times of Israel Sunday, as quoted October 23.

Earlier, PM Netanyahu issued a firm warning to the militant group Hezbollah amid escalating clashes on the border with Lebanon, when he met his military on the northern border.

"If Hezbollah decides to join the war, it will be a long Second Lebanon War," Prime Minister Netanyahu said, according to his office, referring to the Israeli war with Lebanon in 2006.

"They will make mistakes in their lives. We will attack them with forces they cannot even imagine and their impact on them and the Lebanese country will be devastating," said PM Netanyahu.

The Israeli military said there had been a significant increase in escalation in its clashes with the Hezbollah group in recent days.

Last week, IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told CNN Hezbollah had fired a number of anti-tank missiles from Lebanon into Israel, targeting military and civilian positions and causing casualties.