US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed on Wednesday that the Israeli government and its people face a “very real security problem,” noting the importance of refraining from expanding the conflict. His statements came in response to comments by an Israeli minister in which he stressed that residents of the northern regions will not return to their villages “before “Pushing Hezbollah to the north of the Litani River.”
Israeli media reported that the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, during his meeting with the heads of local councils located in northern Israel and adjacent to the border with Lebanon, said that the residents of these areas that were evacuated after Hezbollah began its attacks on Israel to support Hamas in Gaza after October 7th will not return to their villages. Before pushing Hezbollah north of the Litani River.
Israeli media reported that Gallant explained, “The best option for Israel is to reach a diplomatic arrangement, but if it does not succeed, Israel will use all means at its disposal to push Hezbollah through military measures.”
Miller said in response to a question from Al Hurra regarding Gallant’s statements: “One of the things we made clear from the beginning is that we do not want to see this conflict expand, and this includes expansion into northern Israel. We do not want to see increased military activity between Israel and Hezbollah in northern Israel.” .
He added, “There is still a very real problem, a security problem facing the Israeli people, as there are Israelis from southern Israel who live near Gaza and do not feel safe due to the continuous missile attacks… on their communities, and so they have moved to other places in Israel.”
He noted, “There are people from northern Israel who do not feel safe when returning to their communities due to the attacks launched by Hezbollah across the border. So there is a very real security problem facing the Israeli public and the Israeli government.”
He stressed, “We want to see a diplomatic solution, as we said, and we will oppose any expansion of the conflict and urge Israel not to expand the conflict significantly.”
Regarding the United States’ concept of a diplomatic solution, Miller said: “We will continue to follow diplomacy, which… has been fairly consistent. You have seen Secretary (Anthony) Blinken focusing on this matter in his travels around the region and trying to prevent the conflict from expanding, as I said in northern Israel.” And in the West Bank by involving other countries. I do not want to go into all the details, but this will remain the focus of attention.”
Regarding the possibility of making changes to the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which stopped the war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, Miller said: “I do not have any new announcements about new Security Council resolutions or amendments.”
The border region in southern Lebanon has witnessed a worsening military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah since the Hamas movement launched, on October 7, an unprecedented attack on Israel, which responded with devastating bombing and a ground operation in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah mainly carries out daily operations against Israeli military targets near the border, placing this within the framework of supporting the Gaza Strip and “in support of its resistance.” Israel responds by bombing border areas, targeting what it describes as the movements of Hezbollah militants and its infrastructure near the border.
The escalation in southern Lebanon resulted in the killing of more than 110 people, including 80 militants in the ranks of Hezbollah and at least 15 civilians, including three journalists, according to a tally prepared by Agence France-Presse. The Israeli authorities reported that nine people were killed, including three civilians.
Since the start of the escalation, several local and international bodies, most notably Washington, have called for the necessity of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which strengthened the deployment of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon following the end of the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
According to this decision, the Lebanese army was deployed for the first time in decades on the border with Israel. The decision prohibited any armed deployment in the border area outside the army and UNIFIL forces.
Hezbollah does not have any visible military presence in the Lebanese border region, but it has built hideouts and tunnels through which its members move, some of which cross the border. At the end of 2018, Israel announced the destruction of tunnels it accused the party of digging across the border.
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2023-12-06 20:41:41
