The Mediterranean lies calm. Meanwhile, the sky covering it roars. among the greenery border north Israeldrums war They look modest. The few people remaining in this area after the evacuation of nearly 40 municipalities add more greenery to the landscape. These are groups of Israeli Army soldiers patrolling the roads as they await the latest provocation from the Lebanese militia. Hezbollah to respond. “If Hezbollah continues to look for us, it will find us,” says military spokesman Roni Kaplan. The soldiers remain silent in front of the press, but when the recorder is turned off they admit that they feel safe at the same border where dozens of people have died in clashes. The worry for these rifle-carrying young men is that this weekend’s Classic will catch them while they’re still in service.
“As much as I hate to miss the game, there’s no other place I’d rather be,” explains an electrical engineer who has been on duty on Israel’s northern border since October 7. “I have friends who are not substitutes and are looking forward to being called up at home,” he adds during a moment of rest, without sharing his name. They all agree that they obeyed their leader’s orders, felt safe, and were prepared for the moment the war came. To climb north is certain. In front of the locked gate of Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra, the last town before the border Lebanon, awaits a lone soldier residing in this community until his release. “Israel is waiting for them to attack, and it has not started attacking itself yet,” he tells El Periódico de Catalunya of the Prensa Ibérica group.
Since the fateful October 7, its ally Hezbollah Hamas And IranianIt fired dozens of anti-tank guided missiles, rockets and mortars at Israeli military positions and cities. Attacks were also carried out by gunmen, some linked to armed groups Palestinians He settled in Lebanon. Each of these attacks was responded to by the Israeli Army. Hezbollah confirmed that 25 of its militants had been killed since the beginning of Hamas’ offensive, while on the Lebanese side, three civilians, including a journalist, were killed. “Strategically, we have no intention of opening a new front in this war with Hezbollah, but they are doing their best to challenge us by launching specific and sustained attacks,” Kaplan told this newspaper.
A bigger threat
“The question for the people of Lebanon and the Lebanese Republic is: Do they want to risk their future to help Hezbollah and drag the entire region into war?” said this Montevideo-born Israeli captain. he scolds. Despite soldiers Stationed on the green border with Lebanon, protected by the blue helmets of the UN, these soldiers appear confident, not hesitating to admit that the enemy is strong. “Hezbollah is not Hamas, Hezbollah is a threat because they are a regular and trained army,” explains another recruit in his early twenties stationed three kilometers from enemy positions. Without official figures, the Lebanese militia could count on 100,000 well-trained fighters and thousands of soldiers. rockets It targets Israel.
These young soldiers have been patrolling the forests and fields on the Lebanese border for weeks, and the Lebanese border has also been evacuated. Some are more willing to take action than others. “If I could see terrorist “I want to make a noise, a voice from Hezbollah,” says a soldier, amused, pointing at his rifle. “Hezbollah wants to come and invade our country and kill” civiliansand there is no soldiers“, He’s right. Major Hamas attack in Israel that killed at least 1,400 people and kidnapped 222 LoopIt stirred Israel’s conscience. “If you ask me what I want, I want the enemy to be killed,” says Yehuda, a 70-year-old farmer who lives on a kibbutz in northern Galilee. “I’m too old to fight, but I’m here trying to help a unit,” he says.
“Frontline in the fight against terrorism”
This historical moment is even causing some to rethink the idea of the State. “If it were up to me, this country, which was born out of Europe’s guilt for not acting properly in the Second World War, would not have to be here in the middle of Arab countries; they would put this out instead. In Canada or somewhere else like that,” Yehuda tells El Periódico de Catalunya. Kaplan embraces an idea echoed by many Israelis these days: Crimes Crimes committed by Hamas and the Islamic State. We are here to defend our families and citizens as the first line of the fight against terrorism. terror In the West and in the free world,” he tells this newspaper.
From this green and quiet place, the sound of Hezbollah rockets occasionally sounds loud. But no one is talking about the increased power of their own shells, and those bullets did not stop the fighting. Gaza Strip In the last 17 days with the night of 17. More than 5,087 people have already died in Israeli bombings, including 2,055 children. While hundreds of people remain missing under the rubble, the few hospitals that are still operating under Israel’s total blockade are trying to treat 15,200 injured people. Hamas releases two hostages at border crossing shelfwith Sweetcorn. Outside Israel’s borders, American voices are beginning to warn their allies: infestation Landing a Palestinian enclave is not the best strategy.