Mayor: IDF withdrawal from Lebanon risks ‘next Oct. 7’

Kiryat Shmona mayor warned that a U.S. plan, pushing for the IDF to withdraw from southern Lebanon, could invite a Hezbollah invasion of northern Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

The mayor of Kiryat Shmona, Israel’s northernmost city, blasted an American proposal for the Israeli military to withdraw from several key positions in southern Lebanon, warning that the move would endanger his constituents.

Mayor Avichai Stern, who has remained in the city while the vast majority of residents were evacuated for more than a year due to near-daily rocket, missile, and explosive drone fire from Hezbollah, said that while the terror group had ceased its attacks on Kiryat Shmona for now, the risk of a ground invasion and massacre was still very real.

Nearly a third of Kiryat Shmona’s residents — about 8,000 of the pre-war population of 24,000 — have refused to return, despite government assurances that the city is safe.

Stern told Arutz Sheva that he understands their fears, warning that Israel’s security establishment is “reverting to a pre-October 7 mindset,” which could lead to another deadly massacre.

Many senior military and intelligence officials “seem unwilling to accept that the enemy across the border still adheres to a murderous ideology,” he said, referring to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group.

“Their goal to invade the Galilee and massacre its residents — from children to the elderly — remains unchanged,” Stern told Arutz Sheva.

He specifically addressed reports that Israel would soon withdraw from southern Lebanon, in line with an American request following a Lebanese government resolution demanding that Hezbollah disarm. Hezbollah has vehemently denied it would comply with the resolution.

“If we withdraw from the five outposts in Lebanese territory, the risk of an assault on the Galilee — and harm to its residents — will become more real,” Stern warned.

He emphasized that public pressure to keep troops in Lebanon “is a battle for the very lives of our citizens.”

This is not Stern’s first warning regarding the danger of a Hezbollah invasion. In January, he filmed himself at the border near Moshav Margaliot, pointing out that the only fortifications were a few concrete slabs.

“Tell me, have we learned nothing?” he asked, noting that Hezbollah operatives could easily cross into Israel.

“These concrete slabs are really going to stop Hezbollah terrorists? They’re going to prevent the next October 7 massacre in the north?” he asked sarcastically.