Israeli media highlighted the extent of the damage caused by fires resulting from rockets and drones launched by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon – Hezbollah toward Israeli settlements in northern occupied Palestine and in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
The media pointed out that the fires in the occupied Golan, which broke out after the barrage of rockets launched from Lebanon toward Katzrin, caused about 10,000 dunams of land to go up in flames.
Eran Haims, director of the Upper Galilee settlement in the “Israel” Nature and Parks Authority, reported that about 1,200 dunams were burned, including approximately 750 dunams in the Naftali reserve.
Israeli media reported that 17 people, including seven soldiers, were admitted to Ziv Hospital in the north overnight due to the fires.
Sharon Levy, director of the Golan Heights settlement in the Authority, indicated that the fire caused significant damage to the Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve and the Zavitan Stream, adding that several walking trails in the nature reserves in the settlement were also burned.
“This is significant damage, not a small fire. A fire of 10,000 acres is a big fire. Nature can recover, but the larger the fire, the slower the recovery,” he mentioned.
The Authority estimated the recovery of some of the completely burned areas “will take years.”
“We feel the north is in trouble,” an Israeli settler in Katzrin was quoted by the Ynet news website as saying on Monday.
Regarding Hezbollah’s launches, the settler said, “It’s closing in on us, and we feel there’s no real answer or response to this situation. We feel it’s getting worse.”
‘What is happening now in the north is bankruptcy’: Ben-Gvir
Israeli media also reported on the growing rift between Israeli officials over the situation in northern occupied Palestine amid Hezbollah’s relentless operations.
Touching on the fires, Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose ministry oversees the fire service, said that “what is happening now in the north is bankruptcy,” criticizing the War Cabinet, which he described as “a failed management of the mixed Cabinet,”
Ben-Gvir considered that “continuing with the policy of inclusivity and proportionality directly led to October 7,” calling for escalation on the front with Lebanon.
In the same context, former Israeli occupation Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that “Israel” “is not being managed” and lacks leadership.
“These are tough days, but the sense that there’s someone in charge, even in difficult times, is not a luxury. It’s an existential need,” he stated.
“We must save the north. The Galilee is going up in flames. The fire is spreading,” Bennett stressed, underlining that “the north’s abandonment is dangerous” for “Israel’s” future.
Meanwhile, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid took a jab at Ben-Gvir for attending an event in occupied al-Quds as fires continued to erupt in the North.
“There has never been a more reckless government” in “Israel’s” history, he indicated.”They just don’t care. Not about the north, the south or the hostages.”
