Israel says war goals now include halting Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel 

A picture taken from northern Israel shows flares launched by the Israeli army over the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on Sept 16, 2024. Israel's opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid delivers a statement to the press following his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in Washington, Sept. 16, 2024. Trucks carrying aid line up near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt, Sept. 9, 2024.

Israel announced Tuesday the expansion of its war against Hamas to include the goal of making it possible for residents of northern Israel to return to homes they evacuated due to clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants along the Israel-Lebanon border.