Israel Fights Fires After Hezbollah’s Rockets as Ben-Gvir’s Party Urges Response
(AWP) - Firefighters continued their efforts to put out fires caused by Lebanese Hezbollah’s rockets on villages and towns in northern Israel.
According to an Israeli army statement on Tuesday, six reservists suffered from smoke inhalation and were taken to a hospital for treatment after brush fires erupted on large swathes of the Golan Heights following a barrage of missiles fired from Lebanese territories on Sunday.
Haaretz newspaper quoted Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli Minister of National Security, as demanding that operations on the border with Lebanon be under his supervision.
He said, “If they allow me to be responsible for the warplanes, missiles and everything that happens in the north, Hezbollah will know what the Israeli response is. They cannot destroy a part of our country and we fail to reply.”
Almog Cohen, a member of the Israeli Knesset for Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party, which is led by Ben-Gvir, said “whoever knocks on the door must hear the answer.”
Addressing Lebanese Hezbollah officials, Cohen added, “You have knocked on our door. You will get the answer, in Dahieh, in power stations, in everything that belongs to you. We will destroy whatever belongs to you. There will be no answer but this. Little by little we will get you.”
He urged the Israeli war cabinet to take the decision to enter Lebanon.
He stressed, “I am not a member of the war cabinet, but I am telling the government to enter Lebanon today. They went beyond the borders and knocked on our door. I affirm that the government has no right to exist if it fails to respond.”
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority said on Monday that the fires had erupted in open areas, lasting for many hours before the nearby settlements were successfully isolated from the sources of the fires.
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) reported that the fires posed a threat to many settlements, including the Aniam moshav, but the fire brigade prevented the fire from reaching them.
On Sunday, 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel, all of them falling into open areas, causing fires in several locations.