Northern Israeli residents who face daily attacks from Iran-backed Hezbollah say their lives have turned into “hell”, and view the Islamic Republic of Iran as responsible.
Hezbollah launched anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli fighter jets over southern Lebanon on Sunday, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as cross-border skirmishes between Israel and the Iran-backed terror organization intensify.
Incoming rocket alerts were also activated in the northern coastal region of Acre overnight Monday, the IDF said in a statement.
The drones and anti-tank missiles launched caused fires and damaged buildings in northern Israel. This came just a week after Hezbollah rockets sparked days of wildfires in northern Israel, with a forest reserve destroyed and at least 11 people hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
Since October 7, clashes between Israel and Lebanon have escalated, with 150,000 people on both sides of the boundary forced to flee their homes. Recent attacks have increased the fears of full-scale war.
For Northerners in Israel, everyday life is a battle, Israeli resident Ofri Eliyahu Rimoni told Iran International. “Life is a living hell’ for people of the North,” she told Iran International.
“Alarms four or five times a day, telling us to go to shelters to stay there. A lot of people was displaced from their homes and the people who didn’t get displaced from their homes, they are right now living in a war zone. Literally a war zone,” she said.
She said agriculture is the main industry in the region and the wildfires set off by Hezbollah attacks are devastating the local economy as people risk their lives just to work in the fields.
“Your whole life burning down. It’s burning my heart,” said Rimoni.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened further military action after the onslaught of Hezbollah attacks in the North.
While touring the damage from the fires in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona last week, Netanyahu said that Israel was preparing for “very intense action in the north.”
“One way or another, we will restore security to the north,” Netanyahu said.
60,000 people, who previously called the North their home, are living in hotel rooms scattered across Israel.
On June 5, at least 11 people from a Druze Arab village of Hurfeish in northern Israel were injured after Hezbollah launched an armed drone attack. One person was reportedly in critical condition after the exploding drones crashed into a soccer field. 39-year-old First Sergeant (res.) Refael Kauders was killed.
On Telegram, Hezbollah took credit for the attack, claiming the attack was in response to an Israeli strike on June 4 that killed a Hezbollah operative in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura.
Mufid Mari, a former Knesset member and retired IDF Colonel is from the Druze village of Hurfeish that was hit. He said life is not normal, with tourism at a standstill in the north and the Hezbollah attacks impacting factories and day-to-day life.
Mari said Druze villages are especially vulnerable to Hezbollah attacks because 40 percent of their homes are old and are not equipped with safe houses to protect them against rockets. When the sirens sound, the goal is to move as quickly as possible, in a matter of seconds, to the safe room.
“All of us in the Middle East, we want and need to be living in peace,” said Mari.
Mari said the daily attacks are intolerable and he believes they need to get ready for a large-scale war with the Iran-backed proxy.
Israeli security expert Sarit Zehavi said Northerners in Israel are expecting a Hamas-style attack in the region. Zehavi said more than a decade ago, Hezbollah published its offensive plan for an attack on Israel – and she described its similarity to what Hamas did to southern Israel as “astonishing.”
The anticipated attack hasn’t happened yet, she believes, because tens of thousands of residents have already evacuated.
“These are exactly the areas that the UAVs and the anti-tank in the rockets aim to and this is every day,” said Zehavi.
Zehavi, who served 15 years as an intelligence officer in the IDF said “the evacuated towns have no prospect when they will be able to come home. They just don’t know how this is going to play out. And it’s so sad to see the beautiful valley empty like this.”
Zehavi said all roads lead to Iran.
The founder of the Alma Research Center which monitors and disseminates information on the threats faced in the North, referred to Iran as the ‘engineer’ and the ‘architect’ behind everything happening.
“This is all part of the same campaign under the title ‘unification of fronts.’ The idea of unification of fronts is to create a multi-front campaign against the State of Israel by these proxies.”
Experts like Zehavi said Iran supports Hamas with $1 billion a year. The Islamic Republic also supports Palestinian Islamic Jihad with tens of millions and is providing Hezbollah with 70 per cent of its budget – and its ideology.
Hezbollah opened a battle front with Israel on Oct. 8, a day after the deadly Hamas attacks in Israel.
While the US and France have been trying to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, Northerners in Israel say they just want to have their lives back.
