Israel Defense Forces Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin told the mayors of Israel’s displaced northern communities on Friday that work can begin toward rebuilding the towns damaged by Hezbollah’s attacks in the past 14 months, as a ceasefire with the Iranian-backed terror group appeared to broadly hold.
The deal halted 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which began when the terror group began firing into Israel on October 8, 2023, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The relentless attacks forced the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
“The forces are deployed in southern Lebanon and we are engaged in a determined enforcement of the agreement, to preserve the significant achievements we have reached,” Gordin told the leaders of the border communities in a meeting.
“At this time there is an ability to carry out work for the restoration of the communities,” he said, adding that the IDF is carrying out work to strengthen its defenses on the border, including by building new army posts.
Hebrew media reports Friday evening detailed the plan to return residents of the north to their homes.
Channel 12 news said the proposal was based on the efforts to return residents of the Gaza border area to their homes, following IDF progress against Hamas in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attack by the terror group, which started the ongoing war.
According to the report, northern border residents will not be asked to return to their homes until February 1, 2025, despite the ceasefire. At that point, assuming the truce has held, those who return immediately (or have previously returned) will receive a grant based on the size of their household.
Chief of the IDF Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin is seen in southern Lebanon in a handout image published October 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
According to Ynet, a family of two parents and four children will receive NIS 60,000 (approximately $16,500), while a couple without children will receive some NIS 20,000-25,000 ($5,500-$6,900).
Those who continue to stay in hotels or other temporary housing will see the grant to which they’re entitled reduced by 20% for each month that they don’t return.
For those whose homes were completely destroyed — as more than 400 were, while more than 500 require significant reconstruction — the government is reportedly preparing a plan based on the model of those in Kibbutz Be’eri, along the Gaza border, that would involve continued stays in temporary housing and a guaranteed rebuilding of the homes, with a higher value than the original.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which came into effect on Wednesday, sets out a 60-day transition period, during which the IDF will withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese Army will deploy some 5,000 troops south of the Litani River, including at 33 posts along the border with Israel. Hezbollah is banned from operating south of the river, several kilometers from the border.
The US has also reportedly provided a side letter specifying Israel’s right to respond to any violations of the ceasefire.
In a video released by the IDF earlier on Friday, Gordin vowed that the military would “aggressively” enforce the truce with Hezbollah, and lauded Israel’s achievements in its campaign against the terror group.
“We have set Hezbollah back many years and this significant achievement and the severe damage to Hezbollah allows a completely different freedom to make decisions and manage this campaign going forward,” Gordin said.
“The political echelon agreed on a ceasefire arrangement with Lebanon, and our job is to enable it and enforce it,” he said. “We do not intend for Hezbollah to return to these areas, we intend for this entire area to be clear of capabilities and certainly of Hezbollah’s weapons, and that is our role.”
“If they make a mistake, it will be a big mistake, and we are prepared to return to combat… We are now in enforcement mode, but we can, in a very short time, give the opposite order and go back in,” Gordin added.
Women walk past a damaged building as they take part in the funeral procession of six Hezbollah fighters in the southern Lebanese village of Maarake, east of Tyre on November 29, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
The IDF carried out a drone strike Friday afternoon against a mobile medium-range Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon, saying in a statement it was “operating to remove threats that threaten Israel and are violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Lebanon’s National News Agency also reported that Israeli troops opened fire in the southern Lebanon village of Al-Khiyam during a funeral for one of the village’s residents.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF, and it was unclear if anyone was injured.
On Friday morning, the military warned civilian residents of southern Lebanon, including Al-Khiyam, not to return yet to a line of villages close to the border, echoing previous warnings by both Israel and the Lebanese military that the residents wait until IDF troops withdraw over the coming weeks .
In a post on X that included a map of the border area, IDF Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee warned that “anyone who moves south of this line puts themselves in danger.”
“The IDF does not intend to target you, and therefore you are prohibited at this stage from returning to your homes until further notice,” he added.
