Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Announces Updated 'War Goals' Against Hezbollah, Hamas

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced the country's 'expanded war goals' highlighting the return of northern residents who fled cross-border fire traded with Hamas and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

"The political-security cabinet updated the goals of the war this evening, so that they include the following section: the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes," the Israeli Prime Minister said in a statement.

This comes as the Israeli forces and ther Iran-backed Lebanese group and Hamas have exchanged near-strikes almost daily since the Hamas' deadly October 7 attack in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said that the campaign is in support of its Palestinian ally. The group's two officials have said that it would stand down if a Gaza ceasefire talk was reached, while Israel insisted on saying that it cannot militants to remain in the border area in Lebanon's south.

On Monday, Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told a visiting US envoy that "military action" is the "only way left to ensure the return of Israel's northern communities to their homes".