‘Our mission is your security,’ IDF chief tells northern mayors

The chief of staff told the northern mayors that the military was aware of the price their communities were paying.

By JNS

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior military officials on Thursday held a joint security assessment with mayors in the country’s north, the IDF said.

“We have a shared goal: protecting the residents of the north and restoring lasting peace and security. We are working together, shoulder to shoulder, toward that goal,” Zamir said at the special gathering of the General Staff Forum, which includes around 30 of the military’s top commanders, at an army base in Safed.

The IDF is maintaining a “multi-front state of readiness” and is looking “at the broader picture across the entire Middle East, while remaining focused on the northern border,” he continued.

Zamir stressed that the majority of the IDF’s soldiers are currently deployed to the northern border and in Southern Lebanon.

“Even at this hour, our troops continue to operate on the ground and with firepower to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and remove threats,” the military chief stated.

“Just this week, IDF troops operated in the Beaufort Ridge area, dismantling significant and critical Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure that had been built over many years, while advancing defensive operations.”

He noted that Jerusalem’s operations have weakened Iran and its terrorist allies “to an unprecedented degree, significantly damaging and weakening Hezbollah as well, which serves as a key pillar of Iran’s influence.”

“During ‘Operation Roaring Lion,’ when we identified Hezbollah’s entry into the attack against Israel, we acted swiftly and decisively to eliminate the threat of infiltration raids and anti-tank attacks against the communities,” said Zamir.

“This is our policy—there is no containment. We act with initiative and defensive action against every emerging threat,” according to Zamir. “We have created a new security reality. We are standing between the communities and the threats they face, removing those threats.”

The chief of staff told the northern mayors that the military was aware of the price their communities were paying.

“We are engaged in a prolonged operation. We have achieved significant accomplishments and we hold the upper hand. Our mission is your security and your protection—restoring lasting peace and security,” he concluded.

“Together, we are committed to creating a better security reality here for the long term.”

Iranian-backed Hezbollah renewed its rocket and drone attacks on Israel on March 2, following the targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28, the first day of “Operation Roaring Lion.”

In response, the IDF launched a broad aerial campaign against Hezbollah targets and expanded military operations in Southern Lebanon aimed at preventing cross-border attacks on Israeli communities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 26 accused Hezbollah of “essentially disintegrating” the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon, which was renewed during U.S.-brokered talks with Beirut on Wednesday.

“Therefore, as far as we are concerned, what obligates us is the security of Israel, the security of our soldiers, and the security of our communities,” the prime minister said. “We are acting vigorously according to the rules we agreed upon with the United States, and incidentally, with Lebanon as well.”