War Routine as Hezbollah Plays Its Calculation Game, Launches Near the Border

Senior members of the cabinet said this week that for every Hezbollah strike on communities, the IDF will strike in the heart of the Lebanese capital, but for now the terrorist organization is directing its attacks near the border, and northern residents continue to live under the sound of war.

Just before dawn on Thursday, sirens warning of missile and rocket fire sounded in Metula and Misgav Am, and shortly afterward the IDF updated that two launches had been identified and fell near the area where forces are operating in southern Lebanon, and not at communities inside Israeli territory. A recording from Israel: a huge explosion was heard coming from Lebanon (Photo: Nativ Ohana).

A little more than three hours later, at 08:50, an alert was activated in Misgav Am over concern about an infiltration by a hostile aircraft. The IDF said that “a suspicious aerial target was identified that did not cross into Israeli territory,” and the incident ended without casualties. But despite the repeated disruptions to residents’ daily routine, the threats heard in the cabinet remained empty.

Meanwhile, the intra-Lebanese confrontation is also intensifying. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji sharply criticized this morning the conduct of the Shiite terrorist organization, and its patron in Tehran. “Hezbollah is an arm of Iran, and the weapon of negotiation is more effective than the weapon of war. Peace with Israel requires conditions and appropriate circumstances, בראשאש ובראשונה Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon and an end to its aggression,” he said, responding to critics of the decision to hold talks.

In Israel, the call for negotiations was heard from President Isaac Herzog, who visited the north a day after a terrorist crossed from Lebanon into an Israeli enclave in the Upper Galilee, and addressed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun: “There is no greater dream than Israelis being able to get into a car and drive to Beirut, it depends only on you,” he said in Arabic.

Later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a message to the people of Lebanon, saying that “Israel is not at war with you. We are at war with Hezbollah, which has taken your country hostage.” This was contrary to the calls heard in the cabinet, which were joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz. After Iran launched missiles toward Israel, he said that “the Dahieh in Beirut is the same as the communities in the north. Any attack on the communities in the north will lead to an attack in the Dahieh. The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon against the terrorist organization Hezbollah. We categorically reject Iran’s threats. Any Iranian attempt to link Lebanon and Iran and attack Israel will be met with great force.”