An Israeli preemptive strike against Hezbollah was averted early in the Gaza war, top official says

JERUSALEM (AP) — A member of Israel’s War Cabinet has confirmed reports that early in the war against Hamas in Gaza, an Israeli preemptive strike against Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia was called off at the last minute. Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief, says he was among those arguing against such a strike in what he described as a stormy Cabinet meeting on Oct. 11. In an interview broadcast late Thursday, Eisenkot said that a preemptive attack would have been a “strategic mistake” and would likely have triggered a regional war. Since the start of the Gaza war, Israel and Hezbollah have traded cross-border strikes with escalating intensity, even though neither side is believed to seek an all-out war.