Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli artillery strike that targeted the area of the village of Yohmor, in southern Lebanon, on March 22, 2025. (Credit: Rabih Daher / AFP)
Metula Mayor David Azoulay on Saturday criticized the Israeli government's attempts to “normalize” the situation at the border with southern Lebanon, from where rockets were fired at the northern Israeli town earlier in the morning.
A cease-fire ended two months of open warfare on Nov. 27, 2024, between the Israeli army and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which had opened a front against Israel on Oct. 8 in support of Hamas, following the Palestinian Islamist movement’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
“This is what the army, the Northern Command, and the Israeli government are trying to normalize. We will not let them normalize it,” Azoulay told AFP. Metula, a town of 2,400 residents on Israel’s northern border, had been evacuated due to the threat from Hezbollah.
Since the truce, only 8% of the population has returned to Metula, he noted, and some residents left again on Saturday morning after the rocket fire. “This is a failure, and it is exactly the same containment policy that led to the attacks of Oct. 7,” Azoulay added.
He urged Israeli authorities to “take offensive action and ensure that not a single bullet is ever fired again at northern communities.” He continued: “We should resume the war, even if only one bullet is fired toward Israel. We will not go back to the reality of Oct. 6, 2023.”
The Israeli army said Saturday it had struck “dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers” in southern Lebanon, after intercepting three rockets fired from the area toward Metula.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had earlier ordered the army to strike “dozens of terrorist targets” in Lebanon in response to the attacks, which have not been claimed by any group.
According to an Israeli military spokesperson, these were the first rocket launches from Lebanon into Israel since the ceasefire went into effect in late November.
Metula Mayor David Azoulay on Saturday criticized the Israeli government's attempts to “normalize” the situation at the border with southern Lebanon, from where rockets were fired at the northern Israeli town earlier in the morning.A cease-fire ended two months of open warfare on Nov. 27, 2024, between the Israeli army and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which had opened a front against Israel on Oct. 8 in support of Hamas, following the Palestinian Islamist movement’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza.“This is what the army, the Northern Command, and the Israeli government are trying to normalize. We will not let them normalize it,” Azoulay told AFP. Metula, a town of 2,400 residents on Israel’s northern border, had been evacuated due to the threat from Hezbollah.Since the truce, only 8% of the...