Lebanon negotiations will only be held 'under fire,' says Gallant

Israel will not end its fight against Hezbollah until it can guarantee the safe return of its citizens to their homes near the Lebanese border, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday.

"Hezbollah is in great disarray," Gallant said in a statement near the Lebanese border, according to a statement from his office. "We will only hold negotiations under fire. I said that from day one, I said it in Gaza and I say it again here."

After nearly a year of border firefights with Hezbollah and after weakening the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army moved the front of the war to Lebanon in mid-September. Israel says it wants to push the party away from the border and put an end to its rocket fire, to allow the return to northern Israel of some 60,000 residents displaced by the fire.

Hezbollah, claiming to act in support of Hamas, opened a front against Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian movement in Israel that triggered the war in Gaza. Despite the heavy blows it received, Hezbollah continued to fire on Israeli territory.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.