Netanyahu's demand to limit strikes stems from Trump administration's push for diplomacy - analysis

The US needs quiet in Gaza and Lebanon. It is therefore taking several steps: First, it is pressing Israel to exercise restraint in both arenas. Second, it has sent Kushner and Witkoff to the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that the political leadership approve every targeted strike and operation beyond the Yellow Line, as Israel works to keep the intensity of the fighting at a level that will not drag the region into a broader conflict and prompt the US to act against Israel diplomatically, or even take further measures such as imposing an arms embargo.

The exception set by the prime minister is an immediate threat to IDF soldiers or Gaza border communities, in which case IDF troops are authorized to act to remove the threat.

The US is seeking to keep Gaza and Lebanon relatively quiet as it focuses on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, while pressing Israel to avoid a broader escalation and sending Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to advance diplomatic efforts in both arenas.

At present, the US views Iran as a central theater of the war, while the Strait of Hormuz, which US President Donald Trump has already discussed naming a US territory, has become a thorn in the side of the Trump administration.

At the same time, the administration is facing growing pressure and frustration from Gulf states over Washington's inability to defeat Iran in the war overall, and in the Strait of Hormuz in particular.

Trump administration pushing for restraint in Gaza, Lebanon

The Trump administration now needs quiet in Gaza and Lebanon. It is therefore taking several steps simultaneously. First, it is pressing Israel to exercise restraint in both arenas. Second, it has sent Kushner and Witkoff to the region to advance diplomatic efforts in Gaza and Lebanon.

In Lebanon, the situation is more complicated, as the IDF is close to defeating Hezbollah's forces along the Ali Taher ridge, Hezbollah's main and most significant defensive line in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah understands well what it would mean for the IDF to hold this territory. The route toward the Beqaa Valley, Beirut, and westward to the Mediterranean coast would be almost entirely open to the IDF should it decide in the future to deepen its ground maneuver.

Hezbollah and Hamas understand their military position vis-à-vis the IDF. They are trying to challenge the military and draw it into more intense fighting.

On Friday night, an explosive drone struck troops from the Combat Engineering Corps' Yahalom unit, seriously wounding an officer and two soldiers. On Saturday, a powerful explosive device, apparently an underbelly charge, was detonated against an IDF tank in the southern Gaza Strip.

In both arenas, soldiers report a large number of incidents every day. Hamas and Hezbollah's objective is to drag the IDF into high-intensity fighting, in other words, to push the IDF into "breaking the rules of the game."

The complex reality requires the IDF to fight at an intensity that protects its troops and preserves Israel's achievements, while at the same time avoiding an escalation that could derail the diplomatic track.

Israel continues shaping battlefield through approved strikes

Israel is now in a period of waiting while continuing to shape the battlefield, during what is an especially complex period for the military establishment.

In recent days, the political leadership has approved four preemptive targeted killings of terrorists. On Sunday, within the space of one hour, the IDF struck two additional terrorists in two separate areas of Gaza.

The first strike targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist in the Khan Yunis area. The second targeted a Hamas terrorist in the Nuseirat area of the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, both terrorists were advancing plans for terrorist attacks and were struck from the air to remove the threat.

The IDF and Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) say that calibration is currently the key to preventing the situation in Gaza from deteriorating. Israel does not truly believe that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad will disarm, but it does not want to be seen as the party that broke the rules of the game in the negotiations.