The IDF chief of staff urged the Security Cabinet to strike buildings in Beirut and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised Sunday that 'We will strike Hezbollah.' But the IDF has not struck the Lebanese capital in three weeks, while sirens continue along the northern border and explosives-laden drones keep hitting Israeli targets. Twice so far on Tuesday, drones have exploded in military areas inside Israel.
At the same time, the IDF said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah terror infrastructures and operatives overnight in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon. In the Bekaa, terror infrastructure and a weapons depot were hit, while in southern Lebanon, more than 90 weapons depots, command centers, observation posts and Hezbollah infrastructure sites were attacked.
Tuesday morning, Home Front Command guidelines were updated along the northern border, amid the possibility of a massive strike and heightened alert for a Hezbollah response. Among other measures, schools were closed in communities along the confrontation line.
Shlomi Mayor Gabi Naaman sharply criticized the government and military Tuesday morning after drones struck Shomera and Shtula over the past day. “Hezbollah is crossing the lines and hitting civilian populations,” he told the ynet studio. “There was an open dialogue between me and the residents, and we decided that in the border communities, children will study at home on Zoom, except for kindergartens, day care centers and special education. Today, there is total silence in Shlomi.”
Following the increase in UAV and explosives-laden drone launches Sunday, and amid threats to expand strikes in Lebanon, the Home Front Command announced that as of 6 a.m. Monday, restrictions on gatherings had taken effect in the confrontation line area and in the communities of Meron, Bar Yochai, Or HaGanuz and Safsufa. In response, northern local authority heads announced the cancellation of classes in Kiryat Shmona and dozens of other communities, including Shlomi.
Lebanese citizens flee Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut fearing IDF strikes
Asked what he expects from the government and the army, Naaman said: “Somewhere along the way, the IDF’s hands were tied. Our expectation when the war began in Iran and also here in Lebanon was that the IDF would finish the job. The IDF must win this war — anything less means we have lost it.”
Metula Mayor David Azoulay responded to Naaman’s remarks, saying: “It reminds me of a banana republic, where citizens and local authority heads decide what happens in their municipalities without any reference to the central government. And why is that happening? Because there is no central government, because our central government is completely anemic. The Israeli government and the person heading it have disappeared entirely.”
Azoulay also criticized the video Netanyahu released Sunday. “When it comes to statements, our leaders are No. 1 in the world. When it comes to actions, zero," he said. "Yesterday there was a call with the Northern Command chief. I was not present. You know why? Because I wasn’t invited. And you know why I wasn’t invited? Because I criticize them. They are incapable of standing before the population in the north.”
Mateh Asher Regional Council head Moshe Davidovich took part Sunday in a meeting with Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo. “I told him we will not accept the IDF being restricted in its activity. We will not accept drones reaching our communities without a proper response. Between the lines, I heard from him, in half a sentence, that what they can do, they do, and where they are being restricted by the political echelon, it does not depend on them.
“I have three wounded civilians, one of them critically. And no one came to visit them, no one came to ask how they are, no one is interested in what is happening here," he said. "Everyone is busy with primaries, everyone is busy with Likud events, and we are here alone. There are two countries here: one that absorbs and absorbs and absorbs, while the crack grows wider, patience wears out and despair grows; and another country that behaves as though nothing is happening. This reality cannot be accepted.”
“Yesterday there was a flood of drones, and by a miracle people were not hurt,” said Sami Zanti, chairman of the local committee in Moshav Shomera on the Lebanese border. “The drones are like a flock of birds. They fell without prior warning. The children came from school buses, entered the station and their parents picked them up to take them home. A few minutes later, a drone fell inside the station — you can imagine what would have happened if the children had been there.”
Zanti also described the residents’ deep distress: “The parents are in shock. They are not leaving their homes. Today, when you pass through Shomera, you see an abandoned, deserted, silent community. That is why I say: Mr. Prime Minister, attack, attack. You are not attacking. Don’t talk and don’t mislead us.”