Israel expands war objectives as questions swirl over defense minister’s future

By Tamar Michaelis and Benjamin Brown, CNN

(CNN) — Israel has added a new objective to its ongoing war, turning its focus on the Lebanon border, as questions arise over the future of its defense minister’s position.

The country’s security cabinet voted on the measure during a late night meeting that lasted into the early hours of Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, adding that “Israel will continue to act to implement this objective.”

Though the return of residents of northern Israel has long been understood to be a political necessity, this is the first time it has been made an official war goal.

According to Israeli government data shared with CNN last month, more than 62,000 people from the north of the country are internally displaced since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began on October 8, a day after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel. Across the border in Lebanon, more than 94,000 have been displaced, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Officials and residents from Israel’s northern region have become increasingly vocal about the need to return to their homes, piling pressure on the government to act against the threat of Hezbollah’s rockets from southern Lebanon.

The addition of the new war aim may push Israel to shift its military focus to its northern front as it warns that its patience for reaching a diplomatic solution with Hezbollah is running thin.

Earlier on Monday, Netanyahu told US envoy Amos Hochstein in Tel Aviv that it won’t be possible to return the northern residents without a “fundamental change in the security situation in the north,” according to his office. He added that Israel will “do what is necessary” to safeguard the region’s security and return the residents to their homes.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was however more specific, saying in a post on X after meeting Hochstein that the only way to allow the residents of the north to return is “though military action.”

Hochstein cautioned Netanyahu against initiating a wider war in Lebanon, Axios reported, citing sources it didn’t identify.

Hezbollah has said that it will end its attacks on Israel when Israel ends its war in Gaza.

Gallant’s fate

The addition to Israel’s war aims comes amid reports in Israel that Netanyahu plans to replace Gallant with a former rival politician, Gideon Sa’ar. Unlike Gallant, who served for decades in the Israel Defense Forces, Sa’ar is a near lifelong politician. Reports of his potential appointment as defense minister have already caused a stir in Israel’s political and military establishment.

Tension between the prime minister and Gallant had been omnipresent in their relationship, despite a period of unity following Hamas’ October 7 attack.

Earlier this month, Gallant lambasted the Israeli government for what he said was prioritizing control of  the Gaza-Egypt border, also known as the Philadelphi corridor, over a deal to free hostages, calling it a “moral disgrace” during a cabinet meeting.

Gallant, who had increasingly found himself isolated within Netanyahu’s cabinet on the issue of a hostage deal, warned colleagues that “if we continue on this path, we won’t manage to achieve the goals that we set for ourselves.”

“If we want the hostages alive, we don’t have time,” he added.

Dismissing Gallant could cause a backlash in Israel. Netanyahu’s attempt to fire him in March last year due to Gallant’s opposition to the government’s plan to overhaul the judiciary prompted large public protests. The prime minister eventually backed down. On Monday evening, crowds gathered outside Sa’ar’s house in Tel Aviv to protest his potential appointment and express concerns about its possible impact on the fate of the hostages in Gaza.

Opposition leader Benny Gantz on Tuesday slammed reports of Gallant’s potential dismissal.

“Replacing a minister of defense on the brink of a possible more intense campaign in the north, which could turn into a regional war is, in my opinion, is irresponsible security-wise,” he said in a statement. He said the addition of the new war aim was “better late than never.”

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CNN’s Mick Krever contributed to this report.