Fires renew in Israeli occupied north, Ben-Gvir calls for war
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Israeli politicians are publicly quarreling over the fires spurred by Hezbollah's rockets, which were renewed again on Tuesday.
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Smoke billows from a site in occupied al-Jalil, occupied Palestine, on June 4, 2024 (Social media)
At least 16 Israeli settlers and soldiers were injured as a result of the untamed fires spreading through occupied northern territories since Monday afternoon.
Israeli media outlets reported that among the injured Israelis were seven soldiers in the Israeli occupation forces who were transferred to the Ziv Medical Center in occupied Safad.
Fires erupted in the occupied Golan and the occupied al-Jalil following an intense day of confrontations between the Resistance and the Israeli military. Spurred by high temperatures, blazes erupted and spread in 50 hotspots around occupied northern territories, encircling several settlements.
Most notably, the Israeli Kfar Giladi settlement and the occupation city of Kiryat Shmona were encircled in flames that also took hold of residential and agricultural sections of the settlements.
The Israeli broadcaster Channel 14 said that Israeli authorities have "lost control" in the occupied territories, as a result of widespread fires.
Up until this point, Israeli firefighters and local authorities are working on putting out fires in Kiryat Shmona, Upper al-Jalil, and the Birya forest which is located to the north of Safad.
Moreover, a correspondent for the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) who is currently reporting from Kiryat Shmona, said that he could not get any sleep on Monday after seeing "Kiryat Shmona burning," adding that hotspots affected by the fires have been turned to ashes.
Fires erupted again in Kiryat Shmona and another Israeli occupation settlement pic.twitter.com/fULbjzwfCL
— Hussein (@EyesOnSouth1) June 4, 2024
Read more: Fire rages on in Israeli settlements in occupied north
Northern blazes enrage Israeli ministers, local authorities
The Israeli war cabinet is scheduled to meet on Tuesday night to discuss the situation in the north. The meeting is expected to be heated after the fires prompted once again questions over the performance of the Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The developments in the Gaza Strip and northern occupied territories have further deepened the rift between Israeli politicians and decision-makers. Another split has also been experienced between the central Israeli government and local authorities in al-Jalil and Golan. Settlers in the north feel isolated and abandoned by the Israeli government, with such sentiments being inflamed as a result of the blazes that swept through several areas untamed.
The events prompted far-right Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his political opponents, the leaders of the State Camp coalition and members of the war cabinet, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot to visit the north in separate trips.
Ben-Gvir calls for war from the fire engulfed north
Ben-Gvir arrived in Kiryat Shmona on Tuesday where the minister, who has a main subject of scrutiny in Israeli circles, called for war on Lebanon and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah.
The minister called for more intense military actions against Lebanon, saying "The IDF’s job is to destroy Hezbollah."
Ben-Gvir, who is known for his fanatical and extremist views, said that it is unacceptable that occupied northern settlements are coming under the fire of the Resistance, while there is "quiet in Lebanon."
"They’re burning [us] here. All Hezbollah strongholds should be burned, they should be destroyed. War!" he cried.
Ben-Gvir came under strong criticism from the leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, for his poor performance on Monday, as he attended a festival in occupied al-Quds instead of overseeing the operations of the Israeli fire service, which his ministry is responsible for.
Gantz lambasts Netanyahu, calls for settlement or war with Hezbollah
On the other hand, Gantz and Netanyahu toured the northern settlements, from which the former said that a settlement should be reached in order to stop military engagement in the north by the start of the next school year.
Gantz said that a solution should be found in northern occupied territories "whether by [diplomatic] arrangement or [military] escalation."
"I have been engaged for months in a struggle, with the prime minister and with everyone, so that by September 1, we’ll be done here and will be able to deal with something new. It will pass either by arrangement or escalation, but we can’t lose another year," he said from the coastal occupation city of Nahariya.
He also blasted Netanyahu for not joining the tour, saying, "One who smells the char of the fire, one who hears the residents’ cries, one who speaks with the local leaders, can lead."
Gantz has been positioning himself and his coalition as a replacement for Netanyahu's coalition, even though he joined the government following October 7 to form the war cabinet.
However, the minister has been at constant odds with Netanyahu and even traveled to meet with officials in the United States despite the prime minister's disapproval.
Read more: Gantz's party submits bill to dissolve Israeli Knesset
Nearly 10 km2 of land were set ablaze by Hezbollah rockets
As tensions between Israeli politicians continue to unfold into public quarrels, reports of the damages caused by Hezbollah's operations have begun to emerge.
To this moment, damages are expected to have affected 10,000 dunams of agricultural land, forestland, and residential areas in the north.
The fires spread to Katzrin where firefighters continued to attempt to subdue the flames.
Eran Haims, director of the Nature and Parks Authority in Upper al-Jalil reported that approximately 1,200 dunams burned in the area, including about 750 in the Naftali reserve.
On the other hand, Sharon Levy, director of the Nature and Parks Authority in the Golan said that "the fire caused significant damage to the Ya'ar Yehudiya Nature Reserve and the Arotes Hazuitan Reserve," noting that "several hiking trails in the nature reserves" in the settlement were burned.
Israeli media estimated that it would take years to rehabilitate part of the occupied lands that were completely burned in what they described as a "major" fire.
Read more: Hezbollah ATGM, drone launches more than doubled in one month
