Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops and firefighters in the northern border town of Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday in a display of solidarity as Israel prepares for a likely war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has attacked Israel with rockets, drones, and anti-tank missiles since October, after Hamas launched its terror attack in southern Israel on October 7. Israel has responded in limited fashion, attacking the sources of fire.
The projectiles from Hezbollah have killed both soldiers and civilians, and Israel has responded with attacks that have killed over 300 Hezbollah fighters. In recent weeks, the attacks have expanded on both sides of the border.
Earlier this week, Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles against Israel. Most fell in open areas, setting fire to the countryside and forcing Israel to mobilize a massive firefighting response.
GALILEE, ISRAEL – JUNE 02: Smoke rises from the fire caused by rockets fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon in Galilee, Israel on June 02, 2024. In the news on the Israel-based “Ynet” news website, it was reported that 14 teams have been responding to the fire in the mountain ranges in the Upper Galilee region in the north of the country for 5 hours. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The fires have alarmed the Israeli public.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office stated:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Wednesday, 5 June 2024), visited the IDF _Gibor_ base in Kiryat Shmona, where he was briefed by 769th Brigade Commander Avraham Marciano and Northern Command Home Front coordinator Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Alon Friedman on the operational situation, recent events in the sector, management of the defensive battle and actions being taken to defend the communities and residents in the north. Brigade and Northern Command actions against the Hezbollah terrorists and infrastructure in Lebanon were also presented.
The Prime Minister then visited a lookout point in the city where he met with firefighters and emergency response teams that have been active in the sector and was briefed on the recent wildfires, the extensive firefighting efforts and the close cooperation between the IDF and the Fire and Rescue Service in order to extinguish the fires.
Prime Minister Netanyahu [translated from Hebrew]:
“We said, at the start of the war, that we would restore security in both the south and the north – and this is what we are doing.
Today I am on the northern border with our heroic fighters and commanders, as well as with our firefighters. Yesterday the ground burned here and I am pleased that you have extinguished it, but ground also burned in Lebanon.
Whoever thinks he can hurt us and we will respond by sitting on our hands is making a big mistake.
We are prepared for very intense action in the north. One way or another, we will restore security to the north.”
The Prime Minister was accompanied by his Chief-of-Staff, Tzachi Braverman, and his Military Secretary, Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman.
Netanyahu came under immediate criticism for not meeting with the mayor of Kiryat Shmona. His office clarified that he did not meet with any civilians.
Kiryat Shmona and other towns near the border with Lebanon have largely been evacuated since October. Breitbart News visited the town in November and found it nearly vacant, though a felafel stand was still open near a store that had been hit by a rocket.
A shattered, burned storefront in Kiryat Shmona that was hit by a Hezbollah rocket. November 12, 2023 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
Opinion polls suggested that Israelis overwhelmingly support a war to push Hezbollah back from the border, where it is not allowed to be, according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1707, which is not being enforced.
The Biden administration has openly opposed an Israeli war with Hezbollah and is trying to use ceasefire talks over Gaza to create a sense of calm that, it assumes, would ease tensions in the north and allow residents to return home.
The U.S. position does not take into account Israeli fears, in the wake of October 7, that Hezbollah’s presence on the border would leave local communities vulnerable to the kind of attack that Hamas launched — at even larger scale.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
