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Israeli political figures, security analysts and residents of its northern border communities are pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue military operations in Lebanon, despite U.S. efforts to limit the fighting and preserve negotiations with Iran.
The Washington Post reported that support for continuing the campaign is widespread among residents displaced or threatened by Hezbollah fire, members of Israel’s political opposition and Netanyahu’s own supporters.
The pressure comes as Israel issued new evacuation notices Tuesday for residents of Tyre and surrounding areas in southern Lebanon ahead of planned military action.
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed frustration over Netanyahu’s continuing offensive, which Iran says must end as part of any comprehensive agreement with Washington.
The renewed fighting has complicated U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, secure assurances over Iran’s nuclear program and prevent a wider regional escalation.
The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, issued forced evacuation notices Tuesday morning for residents in Tyre, including those in the Christian Quarter.
The warning also covered residents of Shabariha, Hammadieh, Jal al-Bahr, Zaqqouk, al-Mfadi, Al-Bass, Al-Maashouq, Burj al-Shamali, Nabatieh, Al-Hawsh, Al-Rashidieh and Ain Baal camps.
“As we warned in the past days, following Hezbollah elements’ actions inside the Christian Quarter in the city, the Israel Defense Forces will be compelled to act against their terrorist activities in the quarter in the near term,” Adraee wrote on X.
The notices followed renewed Israeli strikes on Beirut and Iranian missile attacks against Israel.
Iran fired missiles at Israel on Sunday after Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israel and Iran then exchanged fresh waves of long-range strikes on Monday, placing U.S.-Iran negotiations at risk.
Rani Ben Dov, a 77-year-old farmer in the northern Israeli border town of Betzet, said he wanted the military to continue its offensive despite the constant artillery fire, drones and Hezbollah attacks.
“We need to let the generals do what they need to do and eliminate Hezbollah,” Ben Dov said. “We can’t just leave.”
Similar views have been expressed in Israeli border communities, on television programs and across the political spectrum.
A late-May poll by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv found that about 60% of Israelis and an overwhelming majority of government supporters believed Israel should intensify its campaign against Hezbollah.
Israeli pollster Dahlia Schneiderlin said substantial sections of the Jewish population supported establishing a security zone in southern Lebanon.
“Attitudes have only become more rigid,” Schneiderlin said. “The society has been told time and again that only military solutions work, and if it hasn’t worked, then we haven’t gone strong enough.”
Anger is particularly strong among residents of northern Israel, who have faced Hezbollah missile attacks and displacement since October 2023.
Moshe Davidovich, head of the northern regional council that includes Betzet, said residents felt “betrayed, frustrated, and helpless in the face of decisions being made overseas.”
Hezbollah attacks over the past 30 months have destroyed homes and a community sports center in Shtula, near the barrier separating Israel and Lebanon. Drones have also targeted nearby Israeli military positions on an almost daily basis.
Avi Ben Chitrit, a community leader in Shtula, said he and other northern representatives met Netanyahu last week and received assurances that military operations would continue.
“There is no ceasefire,” Ben Chitrit said. “He said we will continue to do everything to make sure the border will be secure.”
Trump has criticized Netanyahu for “constantly fighting with Lebanon” and has sought to prevent Israeli operations from disrupting talks with Iran.
After Trump pressed Netanyahu last week to reduce the military campaign, Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum warned the prime minister against yielding to U.S. pressure.
Analysts said Netanyahu could pay a political price if he withdrew Israeli forces before a national election expected in September.
Giora Eiland, a former Israeli major general and former head of the National Security Council, said Hezbollah would likely demand a full Israeli withdrawal as part of any ceasefire.
“For Hezbollah to agree to a ceasefire, it would insist that all the troops that invaded withdraw, but for the Israeli government, that might be perceived as a defeat,” Eiland said.
“We cannot accept that for good reasons, but also for political reasons,” he added. “We are only a few months from an election.”
Eiland said Israel was unlikely to weaken Hezbollah sufficiently to allow a withdrawal within the coming months.
“Is it going to happen in the next few months? Probably not,” he said. “Is it going to last 10 years or more? I don’t know.”
Netanyahu’s political rival Avigdor Liberman, a former defense minister, has argued that Israeli security cannot be guaranteed unless Hezbollah is eliminated.
Liberman proposed in a radio interview that Israel arm militias inside Lebanon, similar to its support for Christian factions during the 1980s.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has argued for permanent Jewish settlements in southern Lebanon.
Since Trump began negotiations with Iran in early April, Netanyahu has expanded military operations in Lebanon.
Israel has carried out extensive strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, ordered civilians to leave areas designated as combat zones and threatened a ground operation in the Lebanese capital.
The areas designated as combat zones amount to about one-fifth of Lebanon’s territory.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says the Israeli offensive has killed more than 3,000 people since March 2.
Israel and Lebanon announced a U.S.-brokered arrangement Thursday calling for Israeli forces to pull back to about 6 miles from the border and partially transfer security responsibility to the Lebanese army.
The arrangement did not require Israel to withdraw fully from Lebanon and did not restrict Israeli strikes against Hezbollah unless its fighters left southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah rejected the proposal and said it would not accept a ceasefire without a complete Israeli withdrawal.
Iran has demanded an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah as a condition for a broader agreement with Trump.
The continued fighting has raised the possibility of prolonged hostilities in Lebanon and further uncertainty surrounding U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Israeli troops recently retook the Beaufort Castle, a symbolic fortification near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, and raised the Israeli flag over it.
Israeli government ministers celebrated the move, while Netanyahu said Israel had “broken the barrier of fear” by returning to Lebanon “stronger than ever.”
“I have instructed the IDF to expand the incursion in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said.
“Our forces have crossed the Litani River. They took dominant terrain. They captured the Beaufort ridge. And now my instruction is to deepen and expand our hold on places that were under Hezbollah’s control.”
Guy Laron, a historian at Hebrew University, described the latest developments as “complete deja vu” of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
The 1982 operation developed into an 18-year Israeli occupation that ended in 2000.
Laron said Israel entered Lebanon at that time without a clear exit strategy despite warnings from U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
“There was this huge festival that we conquered Beaufort again, but have we forgotten what happened last time?” he said. “It was a quagmire.”
Laron said Netanyahu was using the Lebanon campaign to complicate Trump’s effort to reach an agreement with Iran because the broader war had not produced Israel’s desired results.
“He’s using the warfare in Lebanon to make life harder for Trump to reach an understanding with the Iranians,” Laron said. “That’s why Trump is so livid.”
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