At the conclusion of the assessment, Gallant said, "I estimate that as long as fighting continues in the south, there will be fighting in the north. But we will not accept this for extended periods of time."
On the attempts to reach an agreement to stop the fighting on the northern border, the Minister of Defense said, "There will come a moment when, if we do not reach an agreement in which Hezbollah respects the right of the residents to live here in security - we will have to bring security by force."
Gallant stressed, "I do not yearn for war, therefore we are trying to exhaust the option of an agreement. But if we have to use force in order to return our people to their homes - we will use force. The army is ready to protect the citizens of the country. I hope we will not come to that, but I estimate that we might."
Gallant further said, "Hezbollah is pushed from the fence, beaten, harmed both inside the villages and in the nature reserves - against the anti-tank missiles and against those who try to launch and operate."
Earlier on Friday, IDF systems identified a UAV that crossed from Lebanon in the maritime area of northern Israel. The Iron Dome Aerial Defense System successfully intercepted the target.
IDF fighter jets then struck launch posts, military compounds, and terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of the town of Ramyeh in southern Lebanon.
On Friday morning, the IDF struck Hezbollah observation posts and terrorist infrastructure using fighter jets, mortar shells, and tanks.
On Thursday night, in response to launches toward the Golan Heights, IDF tanks struck military infrastructure belonging to the Syrian Army.
