Israel’s North Is Burning
On the night of June 3, vast parts of northern Israel went up in flames after Hezbollah fired rockets on the area. The raging fires burned more than 3,000 acres.
They are a painful reminder that the protracted war in Gaza not only is devastating for the people of Gaza and a threat to lives of the hostages held by Hamas, but also has serious consequences for northern Israel, much of which has become a largely abandoned war zone since October. It is increasingly evident that without a cease-fire, the situation at the northern border could rapidly deteriorate into a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The two fronts have been linked from the very start of the war. Hezbollah entered the conflict on Oct. 8, firing on Israeli military positions in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights less than 24 hours after the Hamas attack from Gaza. Israel has since been locked in an arduous, albeit confined, war of attrition with almost daily exchanges of missiles, armed drones and rocket fire that demand constant and robust military manpower and resources.
The Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has stated repeatedly that Hezbollah will continue its attacks as long as the hostilities in Gaza continue. The group has indicated that even a pause in the fighting in Gaza would prompt it to — at least temporarily — stand down if Israel did the same, just as it did during the weeklong pause in fighting late last year. Any deal aimed at stabilizing the situation in the north will depend on reaching a conclusive resolution of the conflict in Gaza that Hamas accepts. Even then, displaced Israelis are understandably skeptical that a cease-fire followed by a diplomatic agreement can restore security and therefore have been pushing for significant military action.
That resolution cannot come fast enough for the more than 60,000 Israelis once living within five kilometers of the Lebanese border whom the Israeli government evacuated last fall. Thousands more have since left the area on their own. The mass evacuation of Israeli civilians and the creation of a de facto buffer zone have had severe consequences, enabling Hezbollah to fire much more freely at the northern towns of Kiryat Shmona, Metula and Margaliot without incurring the civilian casualties that could have led to a rapid escalation.
But it has still caused damage to many homes and infrastructure, and tens of thousands of Israelis who were moved to hotels still have no idea if and when they can return to their homes, or under what conditions. With the school year almost over and people needing to plan for the fall, many don’t have any idea whether they will ever be able to go back to their lives. Some have opted to leave the hotels and relocate for at least another year. Many are in economic distress because their businesses can’t function. The state has not provided them with a timeline or plan.
