The Israeli government is determined to restore security on the border with Lebanon and create the conditions that will allow displaced citizens to return to the north, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.
“We have detailed, important and even surprising plans,” the premier told Israel Defense Forces troops during a visit to the army’s Northern Command headquarters in the Upper Galilee city of Safed. “But I will not share these plans… with the enemy,” said Netanyahu, adding the military is “constantly in action on the northern front.”
The IDF has already eliminated “hundreds” of Hezbollah operatives in Southern Lebanon since the Iran-backed terrorist group joined the war against the Jewish state in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, he declared.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu toured the army base and received a briefing by Northern Command head Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin on “the wide-ranging offensive and defensive activity in the sector.” The premier also discussed, “The detailed operational plans in the sector and heard about the determination among the divisions to take such action as may be necessary to restore the residents of the north to their homes with security,” according to the PMO readout.
Hezbollah terrorists fired a barrage of around 30 rockets from southern Lebanon at the Upper Galilee on Thursday. Most of the projectiles were intercepted, while others hit in open areas, the IDF announced.
According to the Upper Galilee Regional Council, there were no injuries, though the rockets caused several fires. Hezbollah took credit for the salvo, saying that it had fired “dozens of Katyushas” at a military base.
Hezbollah has carried out near-daily attacks on Israel since joining the war against the Jewish state. The attacks have killed more than 20 Israelis, as well as an Indian worker, and led to widespread damage.
More than 80,000 residents of 42 northern Israeli communities located within 6.2 miles of the Lebanon border remain internally displaced, with most of them housed in hotels, due to the ongoing Hezbollah threat.