Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned during a visit to the IDF Gibor base in Kiryat Shmona that Israel is prepared for “intense” action in the north.
Netanyahu was was briefed by 769th Brigade Commander Avraham Marciano and Northern Command Home Front coordinator Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Alon Friedman on the operational situation, recent events in the sector, management of the defensive battle and actions being taken to defend the communities and residents in the north. Brigade and Northern Command actions against the Hezbollah terrorists and infrastructure in Lebanon were also presented.
The prime minister also met with firefighters and emergency response teams that have been active in the sector and was briefed on the recent wildfires, the extensive firefighting efforts and the close cooperation between the IDF and the Fire and Rescue Service in order to extinguish the fires.
“We said, at the start of the war, that we would restore security in both the south and the north – and this is what we are doing,” Netanyahu said.
“Yesterday the ground burned here and I am pleased that you have extinguished it, but ground also burned in Lebanon.
“Whoever thinks he can hurt us and we will respond by sitting on our hands is making a big mistake. We are prepared for very intense action in the north. One way or another, we will restore security to the north.”
At least 11 people in the Druze town of Hurfeish were wounded late Wednesday afternoon, including two in critical condition, in a Hezbollah rocket and drone attack targeting the town’s soccer field. The Red Alert incoming rocket alarm did not activate; this meant the residents were not warned and that no one had taken cover.
Thousands of acres of land along Israel’s northern border were blackened last weekend and this week in a days-long series of wildfires sparked by rockets, missile and explosive suicide drone attacks launched by Hezbollah across the border.
IDF Chief of Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi told military commanders and fire officials in northern Gaza on Tuesday that Israel is “approaching the point where a decision will have to be made.”
