Gallant vows north’s suffering ‘won’t be in vain’ during visit on first day of school year

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vows that “the price we are paying in the north won’t be in vain” as he visits schools near the border with Lebanon on the first day of the academic year.

At an elementary school in the northern Druze village of Majdal Shams, where 12 children were killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack on a soccer pitch in July, Gallant speaks with teachers and students who knew the victims, a statement by his office says.

“This is the place that took the hardest hit, and it’s the place we are sending the message — the suffering and pain won’t be in vain,” Gallant says during the visit, according to his office.

Gallant promises residents that Israel will “cripple” Hezbollah to allow a return to routine in the northern areas of Israel affected by the terror group’s daily attacks.