After October 7, 2023, almost all of its population Dalil Harari They left their small “moshav” (cooperative village) and went to other parts of the country. The northern sector of Israel was suspended in a vacuum without its jungle inhabitants … Dusty windows, tightly closed shutters, and waterless puddles growing in the streets. Those houses on the hill were under Hezbollah control, and rockets were fired from them regularly, but no warning was raised.
Two years later, the homes from which the bombs were dropped have been destroyed, Harari does not carry a gun in his belt, IDF forces have crossed the border, and northern Israel has returned to life in a peace that no one dares to predict how long it will last. Gaydon brought chickpeas for lunch at the Misgav Am lookout by the fence, and the birds are singing and a hiker seems about to appear among the pine trees, but the country’s northern border, sandwiched between Lebanon and Syria and within range of Iranian missiles, is the hottest spot in the Middle East, and a hornet’s nest that will explode sooner or later.
“The war will return, although we do not know when. “The next war will end in two weeks and it will end badly,” says Harari, a retired colonel in Israel’s 504th Military Intelligence Unit, who is convinced his country will be more aggressive than last time. Can the ceasefire continue? “Not at all. Any day a madman will launch a missile and it will all start over.”
Until September 2024, Israel remained on the defensive, but on those dates things changed. They intended to prevent Hezbollah’s Radwan Force from invading the country on October 7, 2017, in the northern territories, prevent Iran’s proxy from launching missiles from the Bekaa Valley and southern Beirut, and eliminate terrorist militia leaders.
The pagers exploded, killing 179 Hezbollah leaders, including… Hassan NasrallahThey entered beyond the borders into the areas still under their control. Those houses from which the militias bombed the north are mostly a mass of rubble that was previously called Kafr Kila. All the houses in which ammunition, traces of terrorists, and even pictures of Nasrallah were found were demolished.
“Between 60% and 90% were demolished. He added, “The people who lived in those areas and were expelled to southern Beirut are not allowed to return, and this situation cannot continue forever.” “Nasrallah’s plan was to launch 1,500 missiles a day, but thanks to the force used by Israel, there were only 250 missiles.” Hariri hopes that the new Lebanese government will put an end to Hezbollah and that the country will return to “like others,” but he rules out that Israel will undertake this task. “Lebanon does not control the south of the country. Anyone who wants to change the regime must do so from within: we do not want to see an Israeli soldier die for this cause. If this does not change, the country will not move forward. “As long as Hezbollah controls the south, no investments will come.”
From Misgav Am, just turn your head to look at the other source of potential conflict. That peak is Mount Hermon and those are the Golan plains. Behind those mountains is Syria, another source of instability. When the Golani jihadist won the battle against Assad, Israel advanced into the Blue Zone, a demilitarized buffer zone between the two countries established in 1967, and took up “protective” positions, Harari says. “We didn’t know if they were Al Qaeda or ISIS or what.”
Now Al-Julani is an ally of Trump and everything indicates that they should become friends with a man of jihad. Is this possible? “We have to negotiate with someone… It will not be easy for Al-Julani to make Syria a religious state. There are many groups: Druze, Shiites, Alawites… and they are smart, but they are not the only ones. On the other hand, there are many common interests between Israel and Syria. We can help them with desalination, technology, agriculture… We can do things together. We must be skeptical, but negotiate at the same time.
Iran, the actor in the proxy war
The third front is further away, but its results reach here. Until now, Iran has acted in the region through its proxies: Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen, with Israel prevailing over all three. “I paid them to be the ones who attacked and, therefore, the ones who received the damage, but that scenario is over,” Harari explains.
During the Twelve Day War last July, Israel and the United States bombed Iran, especially its military and nuclear facilities, but the country paid the price when the Ayatollah’s regime overwhelmed Iron Dome’s defensive capabilities and collapsed its defense capabilities. Forty people died.
Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Zamir Assaf claims that 4,500 homes have been lost in the city alone. Months later, some blocks are still destroyed. Harari admits that “the war with Iran is not over yet,” but no one believes that Israel will resume it without Washington’s approval.
“We can’t act as if this is New Zealand and we’re at peace with all our neighbours. We live in the worst neighborhood in the city.”
Dalil Harari
Retired colonel from the 504th Israeli Military Intelligence Unit
With this wing of Tehran, there are now three fronts that Israel is dealing with, in addition to the obvious front in the south where there is a war against Hamas, which is currently hanging, like the other fronts, by a very fragile thread that could be snapped at any moment. Harari believes that Israel will behave differently in the future than it did in the past.
“We were making sure that there would be no war to provide a peaceful life for the population, but given what happened in the south and what they planned in the north (an invasion like the one that happened on October 7), we must change our view of the conflict.” This perspective entails, “Let power do the talking. We have to strive for peace, but they must know that that hand can hit hard. We cannot act as if this is New Zealand and we are at peace with all our neighbors. We live in the worst neighborhood in the city.”