'Post' visits the IDF brigade defending Israel's North, eastern Galilee

Smoke rises from the hills overlooking the Hula Valley. A Hezbollah attack on the morning of June 1 had set off a fire. The fire started slowly and smoke rose intermittently. However, by the afternoon, the smoke would blanket Route 90, which runs north to Kiryat Shmona.

I spent the day in the area with Col. Rafi Goldstein, a staff officer in the 769th Brigade, the brigade that defends Kiryat Shmona and the eastern Galilee. A day before I arrived, Hezbollah had targeted the headquarters of the 769th at Gibor camp in Kiryat Shmona.

Days after I toured this area, the prime minister would also visit the same location, and the defense minister and IDF chief of staff would come to the North to assess Hezbollah’s escalating attacks.

Therefore, I was in the North at a potential shift in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a low-level conflict that has gone on for eight months since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. Hezbollah began to support the Hamas attack on October 8. Goldstein is a reservist in the 769th and he knows this area. He’s served here for many years, including during the Second Lebanon War and Operation Protective Edge.

On October 7, his fellow reservists were called to the North, some of the 300,000 Israelis who flocked to the army during the first week of the war. Goldstein recalls how fast the reservists arrived.

“There were questions about what might happen, and the speed they came and got into the [Israeli communities near the border]... that influenced Hezbollah about whether it will attack, and by that time we were strong and that changed the situation,” he says.

He says Hezbollah might have widened the war that very day on October 7 or 8 if not for the fact that tens of thousands of Israelis got to the front before Hezbollah could mobilize.

We know how tense it was during the first week of war in the North because the US turned around an aircraft carrier to deter Hezbollah. It’s also known that Israeli officials debated whether to carry out a preemptive strike on Hezbollah, using the opportunity to attack Hezbollah before it was fully mobilized.

In the end, the preference was for Israel to concentrate on Hamas and not fight a two-front war. Therefore, what has happened for eight months is that Hezbollah attacks Israel daily with rockets, anti-tank missiles, and drones, and the IDF responds. Some of the responses kill Hezbollah members. Many of them strike “launch sites” or buildings used by the terrorists. Altogether, Hezbollah has launched some 4,000 attacks and it is increasingly using precision drones to strike.

The 769th is a territorial brigade, which means that it controls a certain area of the border. This includes the Galilee Panhandle, including the Manara cliffs and the area of Kiryat Shmona and Mount Dov. This also includes Margaliot and Ramot Naftali, areas along the heights of land that overlook the Hula Valley and form the border with Lebanon. The areas on the heights are exposed to Hezbollah fire. This was obvious on June 1 when I was there when Margaliot was attacked. Hezbollah also attacked across the valley in the Golan near Katzrin using drones.

Israel has been changing how it thinks about the North during the war. The 769th is part of the 91st Division, which is responsible for defending the border with Lebanon. The 769th is the eastern brigade, and there is a western brigade. This concept of using two brigades to defend the border is also how Israel managed the Gaza border with the Gaza Division and two brigades separated by Wadi Gaza to defend the Gaza border.

Now, Israel is changing things a bit in the North. It has created a new “mountain brigade” to be responsible for Mount Dov and the Hermon, essentially bolstering the forces on the line and giving the 769th a bit of a break in terms of its responsibilities.

Goldstein says his soldiers know the North well. They know where to deploy and they know the communities. When they deployed here back in October, it was a game-changer in terms of making sure the enemy would not launch a war here. Hezbollah used to be openly present near the Israeli border. Now, after all the clashes, Hezbollah is no longer visible. It knows to hide. In addition, Lebanese civilians have fled the border towns and villages in Lebanon. Israel has also evacuated the North, sending 80,000 civilians away from dozens of communities and Kiryat Shmona.

ON JUNE 1, I drove around Kiryat Shmona. I was here during the early days of the war before it was evacuated. Even then it was quiet, like a ghost town, and now it has become even more of a ghost town. There are damaged buildings from Hezbollah attacks, pockmarked by shrapnel. Local authorities board the windows and do what they can to not leave the buildings open to the elements. Repairs can’t take place until the war ends. This place is eerily quiet. Sometimes there are sirens or the sound of artillery and warplanes, but otherwise it feels like one of those movies with an apocalypse or zombie attack. All the people have gone away.

The IDF is in a defensive posture in the North. Forces are constantly training for what may come next. For instance, the IDF’s 36th Division was sent to the North in January, with its Golani infantry and 188th Armored Brigade. The 146th Division is also in the North and completed a drill in May to prepare for possible escalation. The goal is to be ready. However, for the soldiers and officers of the 769th, one gets the feeling eight months of being on the defense was not what they were trained for. Israel was preparing for a war of rapid maneuver and “Momentum” before October 7. Israel saw Hezbollah as the main threat and enemy. Now, dragged into a long war in Gaza, the North is on the defense.

Nevertheless, the IDF is proud of its accomplishments. Around 300 of the Hezbollah enemy terrorists have been eliminated. The IDF does micro-tactical operations on Israel’s side of the border, Goldstein says. In addition, the soldiers have learned a lot about how to protect themselves along the border. This means bringing in protected shelters and placing them in the right place. The IDF has also sent engineers with earth-moving equipment to build roads and construct paths in the North.

For the soldiers on the front line and also bivouacked in the North, it’s a learning curve. They learn the sound of the Iranian drones that come in slow and low to attack their positions. Iran has used drones to target Israeli bases and claimed this week to strike an Iron Dome site near Ramot Naftali. They also attacked near Beit Hillel in the Hula Valley. Soldiers have to be ready to get in their shelters or get down on the ground and recognize the Hezbollah threat is complex and growing.

To keep the soldiers from becoming complacent, there is a focus on discipline. I saw this myself at Goma junction during the early evening of June 1 when, as dusk settled, a number of soldiers heard sirens in the distance and made sure to all get into protected areas near a gas station. No one runs out to film the interceptions. Everyone has learned to take this threat seriously. It can’t save everyone though. On June 5, an attack by multiple Hezbollah drones killed a soldier and wounded others near Hurfeish.

Goldstein says the IDF is on the front line in the Galilee and the enemy has pulled back or is no longer clearly visible, illustrating the success the IDF has had on this front. The IDF is also keenly aware of the enemy’s emerging capabilities.

“We want to be ready for a worst-case scenario and the troops we have here are some of the best in the military,” Goldstein says.

We drive to a lookout area where one can see the Hula Valley and Kiryat Shmona. He surveys the area and says he is confident the civilians here will return with their families.

Israel is considering diplomatic and military operations to the Hezbollah escalation. The local security teams here (kitot konenut) are well equipped now and they have been putting in concrete blocks with gates to be able to secure roads in case of an emergency. The brigade is constantly in contact with them and the locals train for various scenarios.

“The last month has been one of the most intense but also on their side. We eliminated some of their top officers and we know when that happens there will be a retaliation,” says Goldstein.

Attack and respond: The pattern on the northern front

There is a kind of equation here. The enemy attacks and Israel responds. Israel has many ways to respond, including artillery batteries placed in the North, ready to strike back. But Israel is also cautious and thoughtful in its responses. It doesn’t use a lot of projectiles.

For the reservists here that can be frustrating. They know that back home in places like Tel Aviv, people are enjoying a beer and sitting on the beach, while they go back and forth to the border and wait for what comes next. The week of June 1 was one of the weeks where one waits a lot, because Hezbollah is increasing its attacks across the North, spreading fires and destruction, and Israel must make a decision one day on what to do.