Report: Netanyahu to pitch Trump plan for major offensive against Hezbollah,

Israel’s prime minister will use his meeting with President Trump to make the case for a major campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon – and is widely expected to receive a green light.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will use his meeting with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Monday to make the case for a large-scale military operation against the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon, Israel’s Channel 14 has reported.

The two leaders, who are slated to meet at Trump’s estate at 3:30 p.m., will devote much of their time to resolving differences over the White House’s push to implement the second phase of the Gaza peace plan.

Israel has insisted Hamas be fully disarmed before the second part of the 20-point plan is put into effect, and Trump and Netanyahu are expected to discuss alternative proposals which would move forward with some aspects of stage two of the Gaza deal.

Trump and Netanyahu will also discuss Iran’s ballistic missile and uranium enrichment programs, with the Israeli premier reportedly set to present the president with various options for a new air campaign against Iran.

However, while Iran and Gaza will likely dominate Monday’s summit, Netanyahu will also use his sixth meeting with Trump this year to push for American approval for an IDF campaign against Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah.

On October 1, 2024, Israel invaded southern Lebanon, expanding military operations against Hezbollah that began nearly a year earlier.

Less than two months later, on November 27th, a ceasefire deal brokered by France and the US went into effect, leading to a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

Currently, Israel retains five outposts along the Israeli-Lebanese border – a modification to the November 2024 ceasefire backed by the Trump administration after Beirut failed to uphold its obligation to disarm Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon.

With Hezbollah refusing to surrender its weapons and Beirut failing to draft a viable plan for demilitarizing the Shi’ite group, the US has repeatedly warned Lebanon that it risks renewed war with Israel should it fail to rein in the Islamist terror group.

According to Monday’s report, Israel believes Trump will give Netanyahu a green light to launch a major operation against Hezbollah sometime after the December 31 deadline the White House gave Lebanon to show meaningful progress toward disarming Hezbollah.