Defense Minister Yoav Galant held a meeting on Monday with the heads of regional councils in the north, who are members of the Forum of the Confrontation Line, headed by Forum chairman, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council, Moshe Davidovich.
Gallant listened to what the heads of councils had to say and gave them an update on the military campaign against Hezbollah, regarding a change in the security situation and the ensuing return of the residents of the north to their homes.
During the discussion, which was also attended by Minister of the Interior, Moshe Arbel, and the commander of the Home Front Command, Major General Rafi Milo, Gallant emphasized that he is working to address the existing security and defense gaps throughout all councils.
At the end of the discussion Gallant said that "A month ago I made it unequivocally clear, that it is necessary to determine another goal of this war and that is to return the residents of the north to their homes. The military action that is being carried out now is part of the implementation of this goal. This is what the redeployment of the center of gravity looks like – the elimination of Nasrallah, the elimination of the missiles and rockets, attacking senior officials, all which are based on very impressive intelligence and operational successes."
He added that "the next stage in the war against Hezbollah is about to begin. It will be a significant factor in changing the security situation and will enable us to complete the important stage of returning the residents to their homes. We will do this, and as I said here a month ago, we are going to shift the center of gravity. Now I say that “We will change the situation and return the residents home, regardless of what is involved."
"I came here directly from the border, from our forces, where I met with the commanders to discuss plans and options for our next moves. I saw the forces – they are prepared, they are strong, they are working well together. We have the best and most experienced combat soldiers we have ever had, because what they have experienced in the past year has not happened to any soldier in Israel at least since the War of Independence. This is unreal. They are fighting continuously."
“I repeat,” said Gallant, "I said that if Hezbollah crosses the red line, we will know what to do, so they crossed the red line and we are taking action. Now we will take advantage of our success and bring about a different ending, so that Israelis can live here properly for many decades."