Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern says he “doesn’t think there is much of a chance” for success in reaching a diplomatic resolution to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, “but it’s important to try.”
Stern’s city is currently at its highest level of preparedness since October 7th, he said, adding that he is glad that “finally” the government has officially added the return of evacuees to their homes in the north as part of the goals of the Iron Swords War.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with JewishPress.com on Wednesday evening, Stern was not optimistic about a report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a green light for Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer to engage in indirect talks aimed at preventing an all-out war with Hezbollah.
Because the Biden Administration legally cannot speak directly with Hezbollah, which appears on the US list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, the talks will be brokered by France with the Lebanese government — which has little or no real influence over Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy — with the United States negotiating on behalf of Israel.
“One must talk all the time and it’s okay that [Netanyahu] is trying to reach understandings and prevent bloodshed but I don’t think there is much chance of success and I am not relying on it — but we must always try.”
“It’s clear to me that to achieve real security that can bring us back home and above all, to restore deterrence, more than that (talks) will be needed,” Stern added.
Netanyahu himself did not appear to be optimistic about the chances for success, either.
“I cannot detail everything we are doing, but I can tell you one thing – we are determined to return our residents in the north home safely,” he said in a brief statement released Wednesday night.
“We are inflicting blows on Hezbollah that it never imagined. We are doing it with might; we are doing it with stratagems. I promise you one thing – we will not rest until they return home,” the prime minister added.
Multiple sites in Kiryat Shmona were struck Tuesday morning in a massive a barrage of Hezbollah rockets. The city has been attacked almost daily by the Iranian-backed terrorist organization since the start of the war launched by Hamas from Gaza on October 7, 2023. Hezbollah joined the war against Israel from Lebanon the next day.
“The municipal emergency warehouses were hit [Tuesday]; and some contained emergency equipment that I cannot describe. In addition, the warehouses contained a donation of refrigerators and televisions, brand-new appliances for our bomb shelters,” Stern lamented.
“A gas line was hit, causing a leak that sparked a fire involving asbestos that created environmental contamination. The city’s main water line from the Mekorot National Water Authority was also hit and damaged; it’s like this nearly every day,” he said.
Stern also speaks with his fellow mayor, Metula’s David Azulai, whose community is also under constant Hezbollah rocket fire.
“I met with him yesterday, and we speak a lot,” the Kiryat Shmona mayor said. “It’s not easy for anyone, but he is okay,” he said.
