The decision was taken by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet.
About sixty thousand people have been evacuated from northern Israel because of near-daily attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.
Cross-border fighting escalated on 8 October 2023, a day after the deadly attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, when Hezbollah fired at Israeli positions, in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had said the only way to return Israel’s northern residents to their homes was through “military action”, during a meeting with US envoy Amos Hochstein.
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