Sun. Feb 16th, 2025

Mayors in northern Israel believe that the truce with Hezbollah in Lebanon does not offer security to their inhabitants

November 26th 2024 , , , ,
Hezbollah terrorists during a training in southern Lebanon in 2023 Photo: Tasnim News Agency CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Mayors of northern Israeli towns have expressed their disagreement with the proposed truce with the Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, as they believe that the safety of residents in the area, where 60.000 Israelis are still evacuated, is not guaranteed.

“Do not surrender to terrorism. Do not sign this shameful agreement. It is a sad agreement, an agreement of surrender of the Israeli government to Hezbollah, an arm of Iran,” said David Azoulay, mayor of Metula, the northernmost town in Israel, just a few kilometres from the border with Lebanon.

“The threat has not disappeared. We will not accept a return to the reality of October 7 in the north,” added the mayor of Metula, where 70% of the houses have been damaged by Hezbollah rockets and missiles, and its residents have been evacuated for more than a year, since the Shiite terrorist group began attacking northern Israel “in solidarity” with the Palestinian Islamic terrorist organizations in Gaza, the day after the war began.

Azoulay said that rebuilding the town will take at least two years, but that no one will return home if a minimum "sense of security" is not achieved, which he does not believe is guaranteed by the agreement proposed by the United States.

For Margaliot Mayor Eitan Davidi, it is “inconceivable” that Israel should rely on Lebanon to guarantee its security, since the agreement does not provide for the creation of a “buffer zone” on the border controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), but rather that its troops will withdraw within 60 days so that the Lebanese armed forces can take control of the dividing line to prevent the return of Hezbollah.

“The residents of the north did not leave their homes for more than a year, only to have Hezbollah as a neighbor again,” Davidi said.

In fact, one of the most contentious points of the agreement is the “freedom of action” that Israel demands to act if Hezbollah violates the ceasefire, which would have been resolved with a more lax wording in the document and with a letter of commitment from Washington.

“What should a good agreement with Lebanon include that would allow the inhabitants of the north to return home safely? Immediate freedom of action for Israel in the face of threats,” stressed opposition leader Benny Gantz, former defense minister and former chief of staff, on Tuesday.

As well as in the face of escalation, and freedom of action for aerial surveillance and collection. The idea that we will inform the committee and only then take action is fundamentally wrong, if only for the fact that Hezbollah can burn our intelligence sources and transfer the means of war.

Both Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition and the Security Cabinet are expected to meet today to discuss and give the green light to the agreement, which could come into force in the coming days, after the Israel Defense Forces confirmed to the prime minister that the objectives of the war in Lebanon have been largely achieved, having eliminated almost all of its leadership, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a hardliner in the government, called the agreement a “historic mistake” and has already announced that he will vote against it at the Cabinet and Security meetings.

Until it comes into force, the parties are expected to intensify their fire, as happened yesterday, when Israel bombed more than 25 Hezbollah targets across the country, and the Shiite terrorist group has launched some 400 rockets since the weekend, which last night caused two injuries in the city of Nahariya, northern Israel, a woman in serious condition in her 70s and a man in slight injuries.

The IDF Home Front Command therefore issued new restrictions last night in communities in the north and the Golan Heights, which have been reduced from partial to limited activity, including the closure of schools and workplaces, and prohibiting large gatherings.

Agencies contributed to this Aurora article

3 thoughts on “Mayors in northern Israel believe that the truce with Hezbollah in Lebanon does not offer security to its inhabitants”
  1. I fully agree with David Azoulay. I am a supporter of Bibi but I will not take this one, the terrorism of these savages exceeded all limits, they must all be annihilated, taken out of circulation. For the lives of the young soldiers of Israel, for the lives of the civilians murdered with treachery, for the raped girls, for all the threat that these savages represent, I do not support this, dear Bibi. The terrorists wanted to dance the
    dance of death? Now it will be Israel who says when the dance ends.Am Israel Jai

  2. Could it be that some sober Israeli authority believes that Hezbollah is going to submit to some type of cease fire agreement? There will always be a fierce man ready to fire a bullet against the population of northern Israel. “Israel does not negotiate with terrorists”, that should be the conduct of the prime minister.

  3. Lebanese political authorities met secretly with an Israeli commission two days ago to inform them of the decision of the Israeli war cabinet //We will not lose the life of a single Jewish soldier in Lebanon to look at the ruins of Beirut, this is our position. Take charge of the course of the country or future generations of Lebanese will demand it.

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