'A difference between quiet and security': Northern council head responds to Lebanon ceasefire

The newly implemented ceasefire won’t remove Hezbollah’s threat to northern residents, the head of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council said on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, there is a difference between quiet and security. One wants to live in a place where there is no need for security, which is the basis and foundation of human needs,” Amit Sofer told KAN, echoing other local leaders in their skepticism of the effectiveness of the deal.

When asked about the return of evacuated residents to their homes, Sofer said local councils have not told them to return yet.

The government has not yet issued any guidelines or an immediate plan to return residents to their homes.

Sofer told KAN he was surprised by US President Joe Biden’s statements that called for civilians on both sides of the border to return to their communities, saying there is an issue with creating equivalences between Israel and Hezbollah, especially as Hezbollah embeds into villages in southern Lebanon.

“These aren’t villages [in southern Lebanon]; these are terror outposts. They have no choice but to cooperate with terror organizations in Lebanon.”

Heads of northern localities criticize ceasefire 

Sofer said he was worried by threats to northern residents, with some living just a few hundred meters from Lebanon’s border, who could be left exposed to Hezbollah infiltrations and attacks.

He shared a pessimistic outlook on the situation, saying, “Hezbollah will soon again be in the villages near the fence… they will start digging tunnels again, Iranian money will flow again, and what we get in this agreement is not security.”

Nahariya resident Levana Karsenti told Reuters, “What do I say? That it’s very bad, real bad.

“They [the government] did nothing, and our soldiers were wasted away for nothing. Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] should have packed himself out of the government quickly, even though I supported him. He needs to go home urgently,” she said.

Sofer added that the model of Gaza, which has seen the IDF create buffered military zones (such as the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors), could be implemented in Lebanon.

Because Hezbollah uses civilian homes to hide weapons and launch attacks, said Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern, Israel would not have a legitimate basis for countering Hezbollah activity.

“These are military bases… for the purpose of attacking the northern border communities, and therefore, it is impossible to accept their continued existence,” Stern said.

In recent days, prior to the establishment of the ceasefire, various heads of localities in northern Israel criticized the agreement, fearing that it would not go far enough to protect northern communities.

“A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon that does not include an arrangement to ensure the security of the communities along Israel’s northern border would be a disaster,” Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council, said on Tuesday.

“If a ceasefire agreement is signed between Lebanon and Israel and it does not include a significant arrangement to restore the security of the residents of the front-line communities before they return home – including a buffer zone near the border with a strong international force and the removal of Hezbollah beyond the Litani River – it will be a disaster for generations,” he stated.

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman told Ynet that the ceasefire is a “surrender deal” that is identical to the deal Israel signed with Hamas in 2018.

He explained that by signing the Lebanon deal, Netanyahu “bought himself short-term quiet, at the price of national security in the long run. This deal only serves to limit us and, by contrast, does not limit the other side at all. It would have been better to withdraw from Lebanon with no deal at all.”

He added that he doesn’t see or understand the difference in opinion some take by separating the northern front from the southern. “The prime minister says that the army is worn out and yet is working to pass an exemption law.”

Reuters contributed to this report.