Defeat Hezbollah or we won’t return, warn displaced northerners

Residents of border region call ongoing displacement “a national disgrace.”/em>

By World Israel News Staff

As the Biden administration increases pressure on Israel to avoid an all-out war with Hezbollah, displaced residents of the northern border region say they won’t return to their homes unless the terror group’s military capabilities are crippled by an IDF operation.

Some one thousand residents of northern cities and towns, who have been evacuated from their homes for more than eight months, signed an open letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to take decisive military action against Hezbollah.

“The security strip that was transferred from the territory of Lebanon into the State of Israel is a national disgrace that never be forgotten,” the residents wrote.

They stressed that they do not trust the Shi’ite terror group to abide by the terms of a potential ceasefire agreement.

“We will not accept a convoluted agreement with a terrorist organization that could lead us back to a similar situation,” they wrote.

The residents emphasized that such an agreement being backed by the U.S. or UN was still unacceptable, as they do not want to “rely on foreign entities to protect the lives of our children.”

They urged Netanyahu to take robust military action against Hezbollah, and announced that they will not return home without the removal of the threat to our homes and children.”

“Only the IDF guarantees our safety and the removal of the threat,” they added.

The letter comes on the heels of a visit by U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Amos Hochstein, who met with Netanyahu and other senior officials and is pushing a diplomatic solution to the ongoing hostilities with Hezbollah.

After weeks of intense escalation, the IDF released an English-language warning on Saturday evening that Israel and Hezbollah are “on the brink” of a full-scale war.

While the terror group has toned down their attacks in recent days due to the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival, last week saw Hezbollah fire more than 200 rockets, missiles, and UAVs into Israel in a single day.

The attacks sparked large fires, damaging homes, property, and nature reserves.