The Home Front Command on Monday extended by another day restrictions on gatherings of up to 1,500 people in northern border communities, Meron, Bar Yochai, Or HaGanuz and Sifsufa, but despite the security situation, it did not impose restrictions on schools in the area.
Earlier Monday, heads of northern border communities announced what they called “security and education autonomy,” saying they would set their own threat levels without waiting for Home Front Command approval. The move came about 10 days into what officials have called a ceasefire and hours after Hezbollah launched drones at the western Galilee.
“This is not a ceasefire, it is abandonment under fire,” said Moshe Davidovich, chairman of the Confrontation Line Forum and head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council. “Calling this area ‘green’ while drones are flying overhead is not policy, it is neglect. We are taking responsibility for our children’s lives. We will not wait for a disaster to wake up.”
Under the unofficial policy, communities along the border fence will be classified as “orange” for 24 hours starting Tuesday, while other northern border communities will be classified as “yellow.” Most communities, except Shlomi, are expected to hold classes as usual, though officials said many students may stay home because of fear on the roads.
A Hezbollah drone fell Monday about 300 meters from a school in the Mateh Asher Regional Council. Davidovich described children “peeing on buses from fear and not sleeping at night,” saying: “We will not abandon our children or gamble with their lives.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz also threatened Monday to escalate strikes against Hezbollah during a meeting with U.N. envoy to Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, attended by senior defense officials and IDF officers.
“There will be no reality of a ceasefire in Lebanon alongside fire on our forces and on Galilee communities,” Katz said. He said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the IDF to respond forcefully to every violation, attack or threat against troops and communities.
Katz said Lebanon’s government must ensure Hezbollah is disarmed, first south of the Litani River to the yellow line and later throughout Lebanon.
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Defense Minister Israel Katz meets with U.N. envoy to Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert
(Photo: Defense Ministry)
“Naim Qassem is playing with fire, and the fire will burn Hezbollah and all of Lebanon, just like in the parable of the bramble,” Katz said. “If Lebanon’s government continues to shelter under the Hezbollah terrorist organization, fire will break out and burn the cedars of Lebanon.”
Local officials also criticized what they described as budget discrimination, a lack of protection and insufficient economic assistance for residents who remain under fire.
Nahariya Mayor Ronen Marelly said tens of thousands of residents were living without adequate protection and that businesses were collapsing. Shlomi council head Gabi Naaman called on the Cabinet to convene and decide on defeating Hezbollah, saying communities could not be left in a cycle of “one side fires and the other responds.”
Metula council head David Azoulay accused officials in Jerusalem, Northern Command and the Home Front Command of making political rather than professional decisions.
The atmosphere along the border was tense, with local leaders expressing deep distrust of both the political and military leadership and warning against allowing the security reality in the north to become normalized.
“We do not want to become the next Gaza border area,” said Amit Sofer, head of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council. “We saw what happened there and what happens when people seek imaginary quiet. That same containment led us to disaster.”
First published: 18:44, 04.27.26