IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held a tense meeting Friday with northern local leaders, who demanded clearer answers about the goals of the fighting against Hezbollah and how the campaign will end.
Municipal leaders from communities near the Lebanon border told Zamir and Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo that statements about “striking Hezbollah” were not sufficient and asked what the military meant by promises to “change the reality.”
The officials said they were concerned the fighting could end without a decisive outcome, allowing Hezbollah to rebuild its strength as it has after previous conflicts.
During the meeting, Zamir said he could not provide a timetable for ending the war but said the goal is to remove the threat from Iran and disarm Hezbollah.
He added that the IDF is operating in full coordination with the United States and that both militaries are acting together against what he described as the main campaign in Iran and a secondary front in Lebanon.
Milo told the local leaders that the military intends to strike Hezbollah hard and that “the reality will be different,” but the officials pressed for more concrete answers.
They cited ongoing threats faced by northern communities, including anti-tank missile fire earlier in the day toward the border town of Metula and the continued threat of a cross-border infiltration by Hezbollah’s Radwan force.
The local leaders also criticized government policy toward civilians in the north, noting the growing attacks while economic activity is reopening.
During the meeting, Zamir did not present operational plans for the next phase of the campaign, instead pointing to recent military achievements, including strikes against senior Hezbollah figures and continued attacks in Beirut’s Dahieh district, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Shimon Guetta, head of the Ma’ale Yosef Regional Council, later told residents that Zamir said the threat could have returned if the war had not begun.
“The goal of the operation is to remove the Hezbollah threat for many years, and perhaps even permanently,” Guetta said, adding that IDF forces remain deployed along the border to protect residents until the threat is removed.