Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown on Monday, warned that “Iranian aggression has reached an all-time high” as the United States works to broker a ceasefire with Hamas after nearly 11 months of war.
“To counter this, we need to work together to achieve and deliver breakthrough capabilities in all areas,” Gallant said in a briefing from a meeting in Tel Aviv that also included Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Helgi Halevi.
Gallant focused on the “strategic juncture” at which Israel faces threats from Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north, both of which are strongly backed by Iran.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Helge Halevi on August 26, 2024. (Photo: Ariel Hermoni/Israel Ministry of Defense)
Israel strikes Lebanese targets to thwart Hezbollah attack preparations: IDF
The United States is working with Egypt and Qatar to secure a ceasefire agreement, but Hamas has yet to agree to any conditions as long as Israeli troops are allowed to remain in a security corridor across Gaza.
Details of the ceasefire negotiations are unclear, but Gallant on Monday tried to remind Brown what Israel's primary objectives are in the war in Gaza: dismantling Hamas, ensuring the return of the hostages first captured by the terrorist group after the Oct. 7 attacks and “transforming the security situation along Israel's northern border so that the people of the region can return safely to their homes.”
Since October 7, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip has claimed that around 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, but has not distinguished between the number of civilians killed and the number of terrorists. Around 700 additional Israeli soldiers and roughly 1,200 Israeli civilians have also been killed since the Hamas attacks.
But despite the ongoing fighting in Gaza, some security officials argue the greatest threat facing Jerusalem comes from the north, where it regularly exchanges missile and drone attacks with Hezbollah.
Brown and Gallant's meeting came a day after the world watched in concern as all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, and ultimately Iran, finally erupted following threats from Tehran last month.
A still from a video taken from Zivkin, Lebanon, Aug. 25, 2024, shows an explosion as an Israeli military strike strikes southern Lebanon as cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli military continue. (Reuters TV)
Hezbollah said Sunday it had fired hundreds of rockets and drones at military positions in northern Israel. Jerusalem also said it had launched 100 fighter jets into southern Lebanon in a series of preemptive strikes on Hezbollah positions where it believes thousands of rocket launchers are located to thwart any imminent attacks. The Israel Defense Forces said no Israeli military installations were hit in any of the Hezbollah attacks.
Netanyahu vows more 'surprise strikes' after Israel blocks 'thousands' of Hezbollah rockets: 'This is not the end'
The attack killed three people on the Lebanese side and is believed to have killed one Israeli soldier, but it ended by Sunday morning.
Reports on Monday said the long-awaited attack by Iran and Hezbollah had taken place, causing relatively few casualties. It may have eased fears of a broader war. In the Middle East.
But comments made on Monday by Iranian army chief of staff Maj. Gen. Mohammed Bagheri suggested the Iranian threat has not diminished.
“What we witnessed yesterday was just a small part of the revenge,” he said. Arab News Media Al Mayadeen English“Revenge against Israel is inevitable”
Men carry the coffin of Ayman Kamel Idris, an Amal fighter killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon on August 25, during his funeral in Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, on August 26, 2024. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Click here to get the FOX News app
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Monday that Sunday's gunfight did not appear to have any impact on progress in ceasefire talks with Hamas.
“Progress is continuing and our teams on the ground continue to assess the talks as constructive,” he told reporters. “Hezbollah launched rocket and drone attacks over the weekend that were successfully repelled by Israel, but this did not affect the actual work of our teams on the ground to reach a ceasefire agreement.”
Kirby said there remained an “urgency” in efforts to secure a ceasefire.
