Firefighting crews battle for hours to put out of fire in the north of Israel. Infernos have been blazing for days and weeks as fire fighters battle with fires caused by incessant rocket, drone and anti-tank missile attacks.

Images coming in from towns like Katzrin, Kiryat Shmona and others show destroyed buildings and fires that blaze perilously close to civilian area. The region looks like a war zone. It is not Gaza or the south of Israel, but the north where Hezbollah and Hamas factions in southern Lebanon have been pummelling the area since 8 October in “solidarity” with Gaza. To date, 45 have been killed, including 12 Druze children in the village of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, murdered while playing football as a rocket slammed into them. One child was completely blown apart by the force of the rocket.

Hezbollah poses a significantly greater threat than Hamas. The Iranian proxy has unequivocally violated UN Resolution 1701, which clearly calls for Hezbollah to remain north of the Litani River. United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) recently had their mandate extended. And yet they have done nothing to rein in Hezbollah aggression. The international community and the media have been silent while focusing solely on Israel’s war with Hamas. In recent weeks, celebrities have climbed on the virtue signal bandwagon to share a graphic saying “All eyes on Rafah”. It would be incumbent on world leaders and self-righteous media outlets to focus their sites on the north. Diplomatic efforts have fizzled out.

Hezbollah is Hamas on steroids. Hezbollah’s equivalent of Hamas’s Nukba fighters known as the Radwan forces, are a lot more sophisticated and better trained and Hezbollah’s arsenal of rockets is estimated in excess of 160,000. These rockets, which are significantly more sophisticated than the ones fired by Hamas, and have the entire state of Israel covered. It is a terrifying thought.

As the IDF evacuated southern communities in preparation for the military operation into Gaza, northern communities evacuated as well. Israel has over 100,000 internal refugees or “internally displaced people”. Towns and kibbutzim on the border are ghost towns and the impact of this on farms and the regional economy has been massive. The alerts of incoming projectiles and drone infiltrations beep throughout the day from Metula to Nahariya, the southern Galilee and one of the prime targets, Meron airbase.

One of the worst hit towns is Kiryat Shmona. Hardly a day goes by without a barrage of rockets fired into the town.

Former Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, had harsh criticism for the government. He said, referring to Hezbollah’s intensified rocket and drone attacks,

“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. We must save the north. The Galilee is going up in flames. The fire is spreading. Beautiful and flourishing places have turned into heaps of rubble. Some residents who were evacuated are already planning their lives elsewhere. This is a grave strategic event and can in no way be normalized. The north’s abandonment is dangerous for our future. The prime minister must begin to manage, and now.”

IDF Chief of Staff, Herzi HaLevy has stated that Israel is nearing a decision on whether to launch war against Hezbollah.

“We are approaching the point where a decision will have to be made, and the IDF is prepared and very ready for this decision. We have been striking here for eight months and Hezbollah is paying a very, very high price. Hezbollah has increased its attacks in recent days and we are prepared after a very good process of training up to the level of a General Staff exercise to move to an offensive in the north. Strong defense, readiness for an offensive, we are approaching a decision point.”

EDITOR’S NOTE. Information correct at the time of publishing. On Sunday 25 August, Israel launched major air attacks on southern Lebanon to thwart possible attack. Hezbollah responded with further retaliatory rockets attacks.