Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant called on Thursday to expand the goals of the war being waged by the army to include returning residents of northern settlements on the Lebanese border to their homes.

Galant's statements came during his participation in a strategic discussion entitled: "Our mission on the northern front is clear: the return of residents to their homes in peace," according to the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

He added: "In order to achieve this goal, we are required to expand the objectives of the war to include the return of the residents of the north to their homes safely. I will present this to the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) and the Cabinet."

In turn, Netanyahu's office responded to Galant's statement by saying, in a statement: "This is an implicit concept (axioms), and does not appear in the war's objectives despite repeated demands."

Netanyahu had previously defined the war's goals as "eliminating Hamas, releasing detainees in Gaza, and maintaining Israel's security," while reports say that Tel Aviv has not achieved any of these goals despite the passage of about 11 months of war.