The IDF has decided Wednesday to reduce the number of combat soldiers stationed in Israeli communities close to the Lebanon border and to lower the number of military forces deployed in the area.
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Local alert squad units will now be responsible for securing these communities and will be required to respond to incidents and security threats within their towns and cities until military forces arrive.
Members of local alert squads said that the IDF has been reducing the number of soldiers stationed in the area since November. On the other hand, military officials say the decision only removed soldiers who were staying inside of the communities themselves to move them to temporary outposts outside of the cities. According to the military, these soldiers would secure the communities and be present in them during the day.
Heads of local alert squads told Ynet they harshly criticize the decision, which they only learned about in recent days. "They promise they’ll protect us after the war in Gaza, but we never imagined that while the war is still going on, they would leave us," a commander of an alert squad near the Lebanon border said.
According to him, "No one will stay here without the military. How am I supposed to believe them when they say that there’ll be someone who’ll act and stop Hezbollah’s Radwan forces in time?"
Senior IDF officials said in recent weeks that the threats on the northern border were removed from the government’s agenda due to the significant forces present in the sector since the October 7 attack. Hezbollah's plans to occupy and control Israeli settlements in the Galilee were presented to officials over a decade ago, and the terror organization continues to openly declare its intentions.
"The threat of Hezbollah’s occupation is still relevant. We receive daily reports on this," a member of a local alert squad from a kibbutz near the border said. Another commander of a northern alert squad added, "I receive clear messages from senior officers saying this is an instruction coming from the top brass, and that they couldn’t do anything about it. According to them, 'this is the orders we received; we have to deal with what we have.'"
It should be noted that approximately 28 Israeli communities located close to the northern border were evacuated. Their residents have arrived in various cities in Israel, and dozens of them, mostly men, stayed behind to defend their homes.
According to one member of a local alert squad, volunteers are experiencing mental difficulties and tensions are rising between the residents and IDF soldiers. "We understand that we’re the military force here and that people trust us. We are required to deal with our tasks here and defend our homes, but our mental resilience is starting to wear thin. Twenty men without their families, facing uncertainty and threat from anti-tank missiles — it's not a simple situation."
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement, "There’s no change in the deployment of forces in the northern communities, only in their preparedness in defending the area. The IDF does not provide details about the deployment of its forces for security reasons. Defense units in all northern communities are mobilized and will continue to be an integral part of the defense effort for local communities and the region."