The Israeli newspaper "Israel Hayom" stated that the "unusual barrage of rocket fire" launched yesterday morning at the settlement of "Kiryat Shmona," along with the damages caused, highlighted the "harsh reality in the north" and finally brought it to the forefront of headlines. In an article by military affairs analyst Yoav Limor published today, Thursday, the newspaper considered that Israel, after six months of war, is in a strategic predicament with no clear solution in sight.
The newspaper reminded that Hezbollah has fired hundreds of projectiles of various types in recent months, indicating that these are a type of explosive-filled barrels, originally intended to break Israeli army defenses, and are now also used to exacerbate damage to the settlements.
The article categorized the extensive damage in the north into four layers: the first involves human losses among settlers and soldiers; the second includes material damages to homes, buildings, and factories; the third pertains to direct and indirect damages to agriculture; and the fourth relates to those who have been evacuated and harmed in every possible way: in work, education, mental health, and the disintegration of urban and rural communities.
Limor noted in his article that the Israeli government, for its reasons, chooses to turn its back on the north and its residents, explaining that one can count on one hand the number of ministers who have visited the north, pointing out that some refuse to respond to phone calls from local authority heads and councils.
He emphasized that the result is a growing distrust among settlers towards the government, noting that "everyone you meet among them will first ask you about when they can return home, and if they have children, they will ask where to enroll them for the next school year." He predicted that many of them would choose to remain in their current places of residence, meaning they would not return to the north (if they do) before the summer of 2025.
Limor concluded that the region, which was already lesser in terms of resources and treatment, will suffer greatly, affirming that its rehabilitation will take decades. He ended his article by recalling the Israeli security doctrine which states that "combat must be brought as quickly as possible onto Israeli territory," noting that after six months of war, the security belt in the Galilee has been evacuated of its inhabitants, and no one in Israel has a fundamental solution to the problem, describing the reliance on retaliatory attacks to achieve "tactical operational victories" as a "deep strategic failure."
