Fierce Gaza Fighting Eases, PM Netanyahu Wants to Move Israeli Troops to Lebanon Border

PM Netanyahu during a visit to Kiryat Shmona on the border with Lebanon. (Source: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

JAKARTA - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel could move more of its troops to the Lebanese border as fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip eases.

After the fierce fighting ends in the Palestinian enclave, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel would be able to deploy more troops along the northern border with Lebanon, where fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah has escalated.

"After the fierce fighting phase is over, we will have the possibility to move some troops to the north," Prime Minister Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel's Channel 14, as reported by Reuters on June 24.

"And we will do this. First and foremost for defense purposes. And secondly, to bring home our (evacuated) residents," he continued.

"If we can, we will do it diplomatically. If not, we will do it in other ways. But we will bring (the residents) home," Prime Minister Netanyahu stressed.

It is known that many Israeli cities near the border with Lebanon have been evacuated during the fighting.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group began attacking Israel shortly after a Hamas attack on Oct. 7 sparked a war in Gaza. The two sides have been trading barrages of attacks in the months since. Hezbollah has said it will not stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

Earlier in June, Hezbollah targeted Israeli cities and military sites with its largest rocket and drone attacks in the hostilities so far, after an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah’s most senior commander so far.

Several Israeli officials have linked Israel's ongoing offensive into Rafah, the southern Gaza strip where they say they are targeting the last battalion of the Islamist militant group Hamas, to a potential focus on Lebanon.

A reduction in operations in Gaza would free up troops to confront Hezbollah, should Israel launch a ground offensive or increase its aerial bombardment.