(New York Times) Isabel Kershner - More than 60,000 Israelis who live far from Gaza have in recent months been ordered from their homes along Israel's northern border with Lebanon as the result of an intensifying conflict with Hizbullah, in the first mass evacuation of the area in Israeli history. In one Israeli border town, antitank missiles fired from Lebanon have damaged scores of homes. Military checkpoints block access to communities within a mile of the frontier, and daily life is frozen in a state of suspension. Some residents say the evacuation showed weakness and effectively handed Hizbullah a victory. Others say it has saved countless lives. The Hizbullah attacks since Oct. 7 have been big enough to demonstrate solidarity with Hamas, but measured enough to prevent provoking an all-out conflict with Israel. Israel's Iron Dome system can intercept many types of rockets, which fly in high arcs, but Hizbullah also fires rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank missiles, which fly low to the ground and hit targets in seconds and without warning. There is no time to run to a shelter and the instructions are to hit the ground wherever you are. This month, the Israeli military said that its air and ground forces had struck more than 4,500 Hizbullah targets in Lebanon and Syria since Oct. 7, and that they had killed more than 300 Hizbullah operatives. Fourteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in the north so far.
2024-03-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive