[News] Nearly 10,000 buildings destroyed by Hezbollah in Israel’s north

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Nearly 10,000 buildings destroyed by Hezbollah in Israel’s north

Ahead of a potential ceasefire deal with Lebanon, emerging data reveals
‘unimaginable’ losses inflicted by Hezbollah on northern Israeli
settlements

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

NOV 26, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/nearly-10000-buildings-destroyed-by-hezbollah-in-israels-north-report
(Photo credit: AFP)

More than 9,000 buildings and 7,000 vehicles have been damaged or destroyed
by Hezbollah operations
<https://thecradle.co/articles/extensive-damage-after-hezbollah-fires-over-300-rockets-drones-at-israel-in-one-day>
against the Israeli north since the start of the war, *Yedioth Ahronoth*
reported on 26 November – highlighting the “unimaginable” losses ahead of a
potential ceasefire deal with Lebanon.

“In the conflict line settlements, there is almost no building that does
not require renovation - or demolition and rebuilding,” said the Israeli
newspaper’s electronic site *Ynet*
<https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/hkcuoizmyx>.

According to property tax data obtained by *Ynet*, “a disturbing partial
image emerges that indicates destruction and damage to approximately 9,000
buildings and over 7,000 vehicles that were damaged mainly by Hezbollah
fire.”

*Ynet* adds that “about  NIS 140 million [$38,368,316] has been paid to
compensate for the damages.”

The data indicates that “there are many injuries in the north that have not
yet been reported, because the tenants are being evacuated or because the
injuries are in areas that cannot be entered according to the army's
instructions.”

The report highlights that the northern settlements and cities of Kiryat
Shmona, Manara, Shtula, Zarit, Nahariya, and Shlomi sustained the heaviest
damage throughout the war. Most of the damage was to residential buildings.

The Hebrew outlet says the destruction has not been properly documented and
is “shrouded in a heavy fog.”

In Kiryat Shmona, the losses are “unimaginable.” Its Mayor, Avichai Stern,
reported that every home in Kiryat Shmona needs renovation, which will take
months. Public buildings have also been damaged, and renovation of schools
alone requires around four months.

Stern states that there is no government plan in place to receive the
settlers back north. He says they will decide to leave again once they see
the reality they returned to.

“When they see where they returned and to what reality they returned – the
second wave of departure will be wider.”

“Apart from a budget framework of NIS 15 billion [$4,119,765,000] for all
the settlements in the north, there is no plan approved by the government.
Not security, not economic, not social, and not any response to resilience,
and the communities that fell apart and the infrastructures that were
destroyed,” he added.

“The State of Israel has no idea what the extent of the damage is and what
needs to be done and treated the day after the war,” says Moshe Davidovitz,
chairman of the Conflict Line Settlements Forum.

The first months of the war last year saw Hezbollah meticulously target
border settlements, nearby bases, and military sites. As Israel continued
to escalate, Hezbollah’s operations gradually extended deeper north.

After the pager terror attacks in Lebanon and the assassination of
Hezbollah's secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, and in the weeks that
followed, Haifa and Tel Aviv entered the Lebanese resistance's range of
fire.

The *Ynet* report comes ahead of an expected announcement of a ceasefire
agreement
<https://thecradle.co/articles/us-france-ready-to-announce-israel-lebanon-ceasefire-despite-outstanding-issues-report>
between Hezbollah and Israel, which US and Israeli officials say is close.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to approve the deal
during a security cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

Beirut has expressed cautious optimism, as Netanyahu has consistently
blocked a deal from going through in Gaza for over a year.

The agreement focuses on UN Resolution 1701. As part of the deal, Hezbollah
is required to withdraw beyond the Litani River, with the Lebanese army
deploying its forces south.

Yet Israelis and the settler officials from the battered north are furious
about the potential agreement and are far from satisfied with the fact that
the deal reportedly stipulates that Lebanese army forces are responsible
for dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure along the border.

The settlers feel the government has abandoned them. Many refuse to return
to the ravaged wasteland from which they were forced to evacuate at the
start of the fighting, as they feel Hezbollah has not been deterred and
view the agreement as a surrender
<https://thecradle.co/articles/total-surrender-anger-sweeps-northern-israel-over-potential-lebanon-ceasefire>
.
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