Israel-Lebanon latest: Israeli soldier group warns Netanyahu ‘red line crossed’ and threatens to stop fighting
It comes as the Israeli military expanded its ground invasion of southern Lebanon with thousands of troops
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Over 100 Israeli soldiers have warned Benjamin Netanyahu a “red line has been crossed” over the government’s war strategy and threatened to stop fighting.
In a letter addressed to Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant, 130 soldiers said they would lay down their arms if a hostage release deal was not secured.
“If the government does not change course immediately and work towards securing a deal to bring the hostages home, we will not be able to continue serving,” the letter read.
“For some of us, the red line has already been crossed, and for others, it is rapidly approaching: the day when, with broken hearts, we will stop reporting for service.”
The group includes both reserve and regular soldiers, some of whom have served in Gaza and on Israel’s northern border since last year’s 7 October Hamas attacks.
It comes as Hezbollah targeted Israeli forces near the Lebanese border village of Labbouneh with artillery shells and rockets on Wednesday, injuring three soliders.
The conflict in Lebanon has escalated dramatically in recent weeks after Israel launched ground operations into southern Lebanon on 1 October that expanded further this week.
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Sheikh Naim Kassem has been the acting head of Hezbollah since its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed as part of an Israeli offensive that has taken out many of the Lebanese militant group’s senior officials.
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Hezbollah officials drop Gaza truce as condition for Lebanon ceasefire
Hezbollah officials are no longer demanding a truce in Gaza as a condition for reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon, rowing back from an oft-repeated promise to keep fighting until Israel halts its offensive on Hamas.
Ever since Hezbollah began launching missiles across Lebanon’s border a day after the October 7, 2023, Hezbollah officials have consistently said they would not stop until Israel ended the war in Gaza.
But Naim Qassem, the deputy leader of Hezbollah, broke that link in a televised speech on Tuesday, even as he promised to continue to stand with Hamas and Palestinians in their battle with Israel.
Qassem, now Hezbollah’s top official after its chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike, said he backed efforts by Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, to secure a truce - without setting a precondition.
“We support the political activity being led by Berri under the title of a ceasefire,” Qassem said. “If the enemy (Israel) continues its war, then the battlefield will decide.”
Two days earlier, two lower-ranking Hezbollah officials had also talked about a Lebanon truce without making a linkage with Gaza.
Hezbollah has not explicitly said it was shifting its position. The group did not comment for this story.
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