Report: IDF head wanted northerners’ return home defined as war goal, was rebuffed
Network says Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi repeatedly urged the cabinet to make the issue a key objective
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi repeatedly urged the cabinet to make the return of displaced northern residents to their homes an official goal of the ongoing war but was rebuffed, Channel 12 reported Tuesday.
A source told the network that Halevi made the request several times but the idea has not been adopted and is not on the agenda.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October, Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has been regularly attacking Israel’s northern border region, claiming it was acting in support of Gaza. Israel has responded with strikes in Lebanon, leading to daily clashes.
As a precaution against missiles directed at communities, Israel evacuated some 55,000 people from towns and communities in the north, sending them mostly to hotels in other areas of the country. A further 15,000 people in areas close to the fighting left of their own accord.
There was a similar evacuation in the south from the Gaza border region, but many communities have since been authorized to return to their homes.
However, in the north, the situation has escalated and Israel has warned that Hezbollah’s continued presence along the border will lead to war.
Channel 12 said some political officials backed discussing Halevi’s proposal but there have been no meetings so far.
Mayors of northern authorities have made a similar demand of the government and that too was rejected, the report said.
Speaking to Army Radio on Wednesday, Education Minister Yoav Kisch said the government must act to resolve the crisis in the north. He said residents of the north cannot still be homeless when the next school year starts.
“There’s five months until the school year starts — within this time there has to either be an agreement with Lebanon or a war,” he said.
Representatives of northern municipalities are to attend a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday to discuss a plan for rehabilitating the north, the Walla outlet reported. In January, the government promised to set up an administration for this purpose but the budgeted NIS 3.5 billion has yet to be provided.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon expressed worries that hostilities on the border with Israel will continue to spiral out of control, calling for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
“The danger of escalation is real,” Aroldo Lazaro said in a statement posted by UNIFIL. “There is no military solution to the current confrontation and violence; a political and diplomatic solution is the only way forward.”
