Fears Grow in Israel of War with Lebanon's Hezbollah

Ditza Alon and her husband Arye in the Nahal Orvim nature reserve in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights - AFP
Ditza Alon and her husband Arye in the Nahal Orvim nature reserve in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights - AFP
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Fears Grow in Israel of War with Lebanon's Hezbollah

Ditza Alon and her husband Arye in the Nahal Orvim nature reserve in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights - AFP
Ditza Alon and her husband Arye in the Nahal Orvim nature reserve in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights - AFP

In the green hills of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near Lebanon, Arye and Ditza Alon are hiking through a tranquil nature reserve, wondering whether the wider region could become a war zone.

While mediators hope for a truce soon in the Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza to the south, fears are growing that months of cross-border clashes in the north could escalate into a bigger conflict.

"It's a big question," said Ditza, pondering whether Israel should fight another major war against Lebanon's armed movement Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.

She argued there is a risk either way, and considered the dilemma as she stood with her husband in the reserve at the foot of snow-capped Mount Hermon.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said this week that a Gaza truce won't stop Israeli military operations in the north -- and many fear a Gaza ceasefire may in fact allow Israel forces to step up northern operations.

Experts say Hezbollah, which has waged past wars against Israel, has many battle-hardened fighters and a formidable arsenal of rockets and missiles -- most of which it has held back from using so far.

As the Gaza war has raged, Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Israeli army have traded almost daily fire.

On the Lebanese side, at least 280 people have been killed, mostly Hezbollah fighters and their allies, along with 44 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, the army says 10 soldiers and six civilians have been killed, while tens of thousands of residents on both sides have been displaced.

On Monday, for the first time in years, Israel launched strikes against the city of Baalbek, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of the border.

The Lebanese militant group responded with a barrage of rockets against northern Israel.

Gallant, on a visit to the army's Northern Command this week, said a Gaza ceasefire would not change Israel's objective of pushing Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon.

The United States and France have called on both sides to resolve the issue through diplomacy.

Gallant warned that if this is not possible, "we will do it by force".

"If anyone thinks that when we reach a deal to release hostages in the south and the firing stops it will ease what is happening here, they are wrong," he said.

Amir Avivi, a former brigadier general in the Israeli army, also argued that a Gaza truce would change nothing.

"They might respect the truce, but we are not going to respect the truce with Hezbollah," he told AFP.

In the Gaza war, Israel insists it will send troops into far-southern Rafah, the last major city so far spared from a ground assault, either before or after a ceasefire.

After Rafah, said Avivi, the focus would be on Hezbollah.

Israel, he said, wants a diplomatic solution, but he argued that this would be difficult. If it fails, he said, "then war is imminent".

In such a scenario, he said, Hezbollah might consider a conflict inevitable and launch a surprise attack.



Syrians Stuck in Camps After Finding Homes Destroyed

People walk in the camp of Atme for displaced people, on the outskirts of Idlib in northwestern Syria, on February 5, 2025, nearly two months after the opposition toppled Syrian President Bashal al-Assad. (AFP)
People walk in the camp of Atme for displaced people, on the outskirts of Idlib in northwestern Syria, on February 5, 2025, nearly two months after the opposition toppled Syrian President Bashal al-Assad. (AFP)
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Syrians Stuck in Camps After Finding Homes Destroyed

People walk in the camp of Atme for displaced people, on the outskirts of Idlib in northwestern Syria, on February 5, 2025, nearly two months after the opposition toppled Syrian President Bashal al-Assad. (AFP)
People walk in the camp of Atme for displaced people, on the outskirts of Idlib in northwestern Syria, on February 5, 2025, nearly two months after the opposition toppled Syrian President Bashal al-Assad. (AFP)

Mehdi al-Shayesh thought he would quickly resettle in his central Syrian home town after Bashar al-Assad was ousted, but like many others stuck in camps, he found his home uninhabitable.

"We were unbelievably happy when the regime fell," the 40-year-old said from his small, concrete-block house in Atme displacement camp, one of the largest and most crowded in the Idlib area in the northwest.

But "when we reached our village" in Hama province "we were disappointed", said the father of four, who has been displaced since 2012.

"Our home used to be like a small paradise... but it was hit by bombing." Now, after years of abandonment, it "is no longer habitable", he told AFP.

Assad's December 8 ouster sparked the hope of return to millions of displaced across Syria and refugees abroad. However, many now face the reality of finding their homes and basic infrastructure badly damaged or destroyed.

Syria's transitional authorities are counting on international support to rebuild the country after almost 14 years of devastating war.

Shayesh said he was happy to see relatives in formerly government-held areas after so many years, but he cannot afford to repair his home so has returned to the northwest.

In the icy winter weather, smoke rises from fuel heaters in the sprawling camp near the border with Türkiye. It is home to tens of thousands of people living in close quarters in what were supposed to be temporary structures.

Shayesh expressed the hope that reconstruction efforts would take into account that families may have changed significantly during years of displacement.

"If we go back to the village now... there will be no home for my five brothers" who are now all married, "and no land to build on", he said, as rain poured outside.

"Just as we held out hope that the regime would fall -- and thank God, it did -- we hope that supportive countries will help people to rebuild and return," he added.

Before Assad's overthrow, more than five million people were estimated to live in opposition-held areas in the northwestern Idlib and Aleppo provinces, most of them displaced from elsewhere in Syria.

David Carden, UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, said that "over 71,000 people have departed camps in northwest Syria over the past two months".

"But that's a small fraction compared to the two million who remain and will continue to need life-saving aid," he told AFP.

"Many camp residents are unable to return as their homes are destroyed or lack electricity, running water or other basic services. Many are also afraid of getting caught in minefields left from former front lines," he added.

Mariam Aanbari, 30, who has lived in the Atme camp for seven years, said: "We all want to return to our homes, but there are no homes to return to.

"Our homes have been razed to the ground," added the mother of three who was displaced from Hama province.

Aanbari said her husband's daily income was just enough to buy bread and water.

"It was difficult with Bashar al-Assad and it's difficult" now, she told AFP, her six-month-old asleep beside her as she washed dishes in freezing water.

'We will return'

Most people in the camp depend on humanitarian aid in a country where the economy has been battered by the war and a majority of the population lives in poverty.

"I hope people will help us, for the little ones' sakes," Aanbari said.

"I hope they will save people from this situation -- that someone will come and rebuild our home and we can go back there in safety."

Motorbikes zip between homes and children play in the cold in the camp where Sabah al-Jaser, 52, and her husband Mohammed have a small corner shop.

"We were happy because the regime fell. And we're sad because we went back and our homes have been destroyed," said Jaser, who was displaced from elsewhere in Idlib province.

"It's heartbreaking... how things were and how they have become," said the mother of four, wearing a black abaya.

Still, she said she hoped to go back at the end of this school year.

"We used to dream of returning to our village," she said, emphasizing that the camp was not their home.

"Thank God, we will return," she said determinedly.

"We will pitch a tent."