Lebanon border area fortified

Israel fears war on the horizon against Hezbollah in the north

In Kibbutz Eilon, an Israeli cooperative a mile south of Lebanon, the avocado and banana farming families have been replaced by an infantry company specialized in mortars and anti-tank support. The boom of howitzers punctuates the soft air. There is a sense of impending conflict.

Ever since Hamas terrorists broke through the border fence in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing and kidnapping their way into the neighboring communities, life on Israel’s northern border has taken a radical turn. Tens of thousands have been evacuated and the army has moved in with tanks, artillery and troops.

The fear is that Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Islamist group, may be preparing to join the war — or breach the boundary with Israel in a fresh attack.

“We have to stay on this border to send a message of deterrence,” said Major Ariel, 30, the commander of the company in Eilon, who is on reserve duty. A physician and father of three young daughters, he adds, “My life is on hold. I don’t know how long I will be here but we can’t leave. October 7th was a wake-up call.”

Over the past five weeks, the world’s attention has been on Israel’s aerial and ground invasion of Gaza designed to uproot Hamas’s infrastructure and destroy the group’s military capability, with thousands of civilian casualties.

But an equal — perhaps bigger — concern for Israel’s military and the country is Hezbollah, which has nearly 10 times the number of missiles as Hamas and a bigger, more professional fighting force. U.S. carrier battle fleets are in the Mediterranean to warn Hezbollah and its sponsor, Iran, against joining in.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are designated terrorist groups by the United States.

Whether Hezbollah actually plans war with Israel is far from clear. Most analysts say Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah doesn’t seem inclined. Cross-border fire between the two sides is a daily occurrence, yet has so far been relatively contained.

Israelis have been inhabiting a new reality, one in which they say if a terrorist group on its border preaches the country’s destruction, they can’t just wave it off as poisonous rhetoric. That’s what they did with Hamas.

“The most dramatic change since Oct. 7 is the fear of terrorist infiltration,” said Simona Menashe, the administrator of Kibbutz Kabri, a co-operative south of Eilon where other soldiers and equipment have been installed. “Hezbollah is more sophisticated than Hamas. They could take over the whole area. This is now in our heads.”