Defense establishment presses PM for ceasefires on Gaza, Lebanese fronts

The defense establishment overall wishes to move closer to a ceasefire in both Gaza and Lebanon, not believing there is much more to achieve militarily and frustrated by the daily losses of soldiers, the Jerusalem Post has learned. 

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant both elevated their pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut a ceasefire deal in Gaza which would return the remaining 101 living and dead Israeli hostages held by Gazan terror groups.

At speeches at an officer graduation ceremony, both top defense officials said that time is of the essence to return the hostages, which most officials now agree will only happen, if at all, through a deal of some kind with Hamas.

At the same time, defense sources still do want to confirm that Hezbollah will – at least publicly - commit to withdrawing North of the Litani River, which has been Israel’s primary position since the current war started.

In addition, Israel will want to ensure it has the right to self-enforce violations of such a withdrawal without having to get permission from UNIFIL, which has been seen as utterly ineffective for around 18 years.

Separately, six Lebanese health workers were killed and four wounded in Israeli strikes across south Lebanon on Thursday, the health ministry said in a statement.

The total number of health workers killed by Israel since October 2023 rose to 178 and 279 wounded, the ministry added.

The IDF has not yet responded to the allegations at press time but has alternately denied some such incidents or confirmed some incidents, blaming Hezbollah for intentionally battling and attacking Israel from among civilians.

IDF conducts strikes in Syria

Also, the air force struck weapons storage facilities used by Hezbollah's Radwan forces in the Qusayr area of Syria, near the Syrian-Lebanese border, the military said on Thursday.

A statement said that the attack was specially guided by IDF intelligence.  

The military said it was conducting strikes to reduce the transfer of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah via Syria.

The IDF noted that Hezbollah's Munitions Unit recently increased its activities in the border town as part of attempts to set up logistical infrastructure in the area.

The military said that its Syria strike was part of its broader operations in targeting the terror group's Unit 4400, which foresees the transfer of weapons from Iran.

"With the support of the Syrian regime, the Hezbollah terrorist organization endangers the security of Syrian and Lebanese civilians by embedding command centers and forces in civilian areas in both these countries." the IDF said.

Earlier on Thursday, Reuters reported that civilians had been wounded during an alleged Israeli strike in the area, which targeted the city's industrial zone along with residential neighborhoods.

Last week, the IAF targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in the Jousieh border crossing, operated by the Syrian Regime,  in the area of northern Beqaa in Lebanon.

In Gaza, the IDF continued a variety of air strikes and Divisions 162 and 252 continued fighting small groups of Gazan terrorists, especially in Jabalia in northern Gaza.

With the IDF still attacking Gazan terrorists in northern Gaza, it was unclear what deal has or has not been worked out between the US and Israel about the humanitarian situation there.

In mid-October, the US threatened to freeze arms transfers if the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza did not improve significantly.

Reuters contributed to this report.