Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday unveiled a government plan that would direct billions of shekels to three Israeli locales near the border with Lebanon—Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi and Metula. “We are bringing an immediate plan for the rehabilitation, development and growth” of the three areas in the Upper Galilee, Netanyahu said during a speech at the weekly Cabinet meeting. It was held in Kiryat Shmona to signal the government’s commitment to the issue. The new plan will mean “grants for businesses and residents, more resources for housing, industry, medicine, transportation and academic institutions—and that’s only during the first phase,” said Netanyahu.
Roughly a third of Kiryat Shmona’s pre-war population of approximately 26,000 people have not returned since being evacuated in 2023, according to the municipality. Israel evacuated more than 60,000 civilians from the border area in October 2023, when Hezbollah began targeting it in solidarity with Hamas. In September 2024, Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, among other commanders, and eliminated many of its capabilities.
Hezbollah agreed in November 2024 to a ceasefire under the terms of which it may not maintain a presence south of the Litani River, formalizing what was widely seen as one of the Shi’ite terror group’s worst defeats. Israel has been enforcing the ceasefire with dozens of strikes in Lebanon, according to the Israeli military targeting attempts to reestablish Hezbollah’s infrastructure. (Ed note: It's not over with Israel, Israel will live on.) (Read More)
