Israeli residents prepare for potential conflict with Hezbollah

Eli Harel, a former Israeli soldier who fought in Lebanon in 2006, is preparing to rejoin the army as tensions rise along Israel’s northern border. Now 50, Harel reflects on his experience battling Hezbollah during the month-long war, and acknowledges that a new conflict with the Iranian-backed group would present significant challenges.

As shelling escalates, residents of northern Israel brace for the possibility of a full-scale confrontation with Iran’s most powerful regional proxy.

“There are booby traps everywhere,” he told Reuters. “People are popping up from tunnels. You have to be constantly on alert otherwise you will be dead.”

Harel lives in Haifa, Israel’s third biggest city, well within range of Hezbollah’s weapons. Haifa’s mayor recently urged residents to stockpile food and medicine because of the growing risk of all-out war.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in escalating daily cross-border strikes over the past six months – in parallel with the war in Gaza – and their increasing range and sophistication has spurred fears of a wider regional conflict.

Hezbollah has amassed a formidable arsenal since 2006.

Like Hamas, the militant Palestinian group battling Israel in Gaza, Hezbollah has a network of tunnels to move fighters and weapons around. Its fighters have also been training for more than a decade with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Hezbollah has so far restricted its attacks to a strip of northern Israel, seeking to draw Israeli forces away from Gaza. Israel has said it is ready to push Hezbollah back from the border, but it is unclear how.

EXILES IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY

Some 60,000 residents have had to leave their homes, in the first mass evacuation of northern Israel, and cannot safely return, prompting increased calls within Israel for firmer military action against Hezbollah. Across the border in Lebanon, some 90,000 people have also been displaced by Israeli strikes.

Eyal Hulata, a former Israeli national security adviser, said Israel should announce a date in the next few months when displaced Israeli civilians can return, effectively challenging Hezbollah to scale back its shelling or face all-out war.

“Israelis cannot be in exile in their own country. This cannot happen. It is the responsibility of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to defend civilians. It is what we failed to do on Oct. 7,” he said, referring to the Hamas attack on southern Israel that prompted the current war in Gaza.

Hezbollah did not respond to a request for comment. The group’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in February that residents of northern Israel “will not return” to their homes.