Israel warns time for diplomacy with Hezbollah is running out

Israel’s foreign minister warned time’s running short to find a diplomatic solution to the presence of Hezbollah fighters along the country’s northern border with Lebanon.

Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group backed by Iran, and Israeli forces have exchanged fire almost daily since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7. While those skirmishes have killed scores of people and forced almost 100,000 Israelis and thousands of Lebanese to evacuate their homes, neither side has escalated its operations.

Israel has said, though, that it’s prepared to open another front with a military attack on southern Lebanon if Hezbollah doesn’t move back to about 20 miles from the border, as per the terms of a long-standing United Nations resolution.

“Israel will act militarily to return the evacuated citizens to their homes” if Hamas doesn’t comply with the resolution, known as 1701, Foreign Minister Israel Katz told his French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne, on Monday in Jerusalem.

Hezbollah has expressed solidarity with Hamas and fired missiles, mortars and rockets into Israel. The Israeli military has responded with artillery fire and also assassinated senior Hezbollah figures.

Israeli generals and ministers are confident they would win a two-front war against Hezbollah and Hamas. But U.S. officials have privately warned them of the sheer strain such a scenario would place on the country’s resources and economy, with some describing it as a nightmare scenario for Israel.

Amos Hochstein, a U.S. special envoy often used by President Joe Biden for Israeli and Lebanese matters, was in Israel over the weekend. He spoke to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other officials about easing tensions and working toward getting Hezbollah to back away, according to Israeli media.

Hezbollah is the most powerful militia in the Middle East. It has an arsenal of more than 100,000 rockets and missiles, according to Israeli intelligence estimates, far bigger than what Hamas could muster before Oct. 7.