Northern Israel

The IDF Home Front Command will reduce standby emergency squads in northern Israel from Sunday, citing the Hezbollah ceasefire, while keeping forces on alert amid warnings of potential escalation.

The slow war in Lebanon, based on a doctrine from Gaza, has resulted in leaving Hezbollah in the field just miles from Israel's northern border.

The time has come for the government to stop managing evacuations and start investing in community resilience and respite models with the same seriousness and budgets it invests in Iron Dome. 

“Over the past four months, Israel’s policy has been driven entirely by Trump,” said Azoulay, from his office on the Lebanese border, which has become the central sticking point in US-Iranian talks.

"One thing is clear and simple, as is happening in the Gaza Strip," he said. "We must not again defend Metula from an outpost that is inside Metula.”

My 20-year-old self would have been incredulous to learn that, almost four decades later, I am in the same place, with the same mission statement, in Lebanon.

Since early Sunday morning, several drones launched by Hezbollah have crossed into Israeli airspace, prompting sirens to be sounded in northern Israel.  

"I call on him to implement it with determination and force and to demolish buildings in Dahiyeh today as well," said Smotrich. "We promised security to the residents of the north."

“We still don’t know how many bulbs were destroyed. It could be hundreds, it could be thousands. Only in months or even years will we know the full extent of the damage.”

The decision comes as leaders of northern local authorities have sharply criticized the government for failing to provide adequate support and aid to residents amid the ongoing security threat.