|
Trending Topics
|
Israeli Defense Minister Gallant: We'll Push Hizbullah beyond Litani River before Residents of Northern Israel Return Home
(Times of Israel) Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met on Wednesday with the heads of local governments located near the Lebanon border, promising that their communities - evacuated since border skirmishes began in October - will not be returned home until Hizbullah is driven north of the Litani River. UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006, barred Hizbullah from maintaining a military presence south of the Litani, which is 30 km. (18 miles) north of the border. Gallant said the best option is to reach a diplomatic arrangement that will cause Resolution 1701 to be enforced. If that doesn't succeed, Israel will "act with all the means at its disposal" to push Hizbullah back through military actions. Some 80,000 residents of communities located up to 10 km. south of the Lebanon border have been evacuated.