Hezbollah's revenge for Al-Arouri has Israeli settlers living on edge
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Anxiety and tension are prevalent among the Israeli settlers in the north of occupied Palestine, fearing the response to the assassination of martyr Saleh al-Arouri.
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Mourners carry the coffins of Saleh al-Arouri, one of the top Hamas commanders, and two other Hamas members, who were killed in an Israeli strike Tuesday, during their funeral in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024 (AP)
According to the Israeli channel Kan, Israeli settlers in northern occupied Palestine indicated that they are on high alert after settlement mayors told residents not to return to their homes in the coming days.
The northern Israeli settlement of "Kiryat Shmona" has long been aware of the threat of rocket launches from Lebanon; however, in recent months, the continuous threat to it has led to the evacuation of most of its settlers, a Yedioth Ahronoth report revealed on Wednesday.
Mayor Avihai Stern urged all settlers to evacuate, expressing concern about Hezbollah's potential response to Hamas top official Saleh al-Arouri's assassination.
"I believe that since October 7, we have been engaged in a battle: feeling and hearing it distinctly... Unfortunately, there is damage to both property and lives," Stern told Ynet.
"I hear various euphemisms, almost like a war, a war of attrition, and all sorts of different definitions... Comrades, this is war... There is no other definition for the situation, and I don't know what escalation is," the Israeli mayor added.
On another note, The New York Times reported on the growing frustration of tens of thousands of Israelis who were transferred from the blue-line area.
The newspaper indicated that they had become "increasingly disturbed by the strikes" carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon since October 8, after which they were transferred from the northern settlements.
The “prolonged turmoil” and economic repercussions have increased pressure on the Israeli forces and government “to take stronger steps to end the daily attack with rockets and missiles launched by Hezbollah” and other resistance factions in Lebanon on Israeli forces and settlements in northern occupied Palestine, according to the newspaper.
Firstly, the targeting of any resistance leader on Lebanese soil was something the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had previously warned against.
Secondly, the targeting the southern suburb of Beirut in an incident that was the first of its kind since the war between Lebanon and "Israel" ended in 2006.
Sayyed Nasrallah discussed in his speech on Wednesday al-Arouri's assassination, where he underlined that the crime committed by "Israel" was an act of aggression on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
"The assassination of Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri is a flagrant, dangerous crime that will not go unanswered," he stressed.
The deputy head of the Hamas movement's Political Bureau, Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri, was laid to rest Thursday following his assassination in an Israeli aggression on Tuesday.
Al-Arouri was buried in the Sabra and Shatila Martyrs' Cemetery, and his funeral procession was also joined by that of martyrs Azzam al-Aqra' and Mohammad al-Rayyes.
The Resistance leader was martyred alongside six of his companions in the Southern Suburb of Beirut.
Footage from the funeral procession for the Deputy Chief of the Political Bureau of Hamas, martyr Salah al-Arouri, in #Beirut.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 4, 2024
Al-Arouri was martyred in an Israeli strike on Tuesday evening alongside five others.#Palestine https://t.co/1D5foJUObQ
Growing dissatisfaction
"As someone who grew up in Kiryat Shmona, and due to our knowledge of our enemies, I am certain that there will be a response to yesterday's liquidation," Mayor Avihai Stern underlined.
Stern underlined that he had been urging northern settlers to evacuate even before the central Israeli regime ordered them to do so. He reiterated his call for the Israeli settlers and anyone coming to the northern settlements to comply with his instructions and leave "Kiryat Shmona".
Stern criticized in December how the Israeli occupation's government is dealing with the increasingly worsening situation on the Lebanese border area with the Islamic Resitance's daily operations.
Speaking to Israeli Channel 13 news, Stern said the North feels that "the destructive containment policy seen prior to October 7 is still ongoing today."
"We are under fire daily and we continue to record injuries daily. Yesterday, a soldier in the reserve brigade was killed; we are recording injuries and fatalities daily," Stern stressed.
The mayor of the northern Israeli settlement added: "The answer must be clear; Hezbollah and Hamas are one and the same. If they decided that to get rid of the threat on the southern border they must destroy Hamas, I do not see why they did not make the same decision for the northern border."
