Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) meets with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (right) at the Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, on Feb. 5, 2025. (Credit: Jim Watson/AFP)
Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that a "large-scale preventive attack against Hezbollah" was planned for Oct. 11, 2023, by the Israeli army high command, before it was rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Biden administration. Gallant made these revelations in an interview with the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, which will be published in full this Friday.
The large-scale attack included the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as "eliminating ... between 12,000 and 15,000 terrorists who were to wear combat vests equipped with booby-trapped communication devices," Gallant explained in his first interview since his dismissal last November.
Nearly a year later, on Sept. 17 and 18, 2024, thousands of communication devices belonging to the group exploded in public places across Lebanese territory, killing at least 40 people, including a child, and injuring more than 2,900. Nasrallah was assassinated 10 days later on Sept. 27, 2024.
'The greatest missed opportunity'
Gallant explained that the refusal of the attack by the Israeli government was motivated by the possible large-scale reaction of the party.
"You see all these buildings in Tel Aviv? They will be destroyed, there will be nothing left, because of Hezbollah's missile launching capabilities," Netanyahu reportedly said during a meeting at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, "pointing to the window more than once," Gallant recounted.
The former Israeli defense minister reportedly refused this argument categorically and asked for "a cabinet meeting to be convened as soon as possible."
Gallant now believes that "not acting on Oct. 11, 2023 is the greatest missed security opportunity in the entire history of the State of Israel. And not just in this war."
At that time, Hezbollah had only opened the "support front" in solidarity with Hamas for three days, following the bloody attack on Oct. 7 in Israel that triggered a significant conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Gadi Eisenkot, an Israeli minister in the war cabinet and former chief of staff, previously mentioned on Jan. 19, 2024 Israel's intent to strike Hezbollah on Oct. 11 without giving details of the operation. He stated that then-minister without portfolio Benny Gantz and he managed to convince the war cabinet members, formed the same day, to wait.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.