By Enes Canli
MAJDAL SHAMS, Syria (AA) - Israel remains on high alert along its northern border against Hezbollah in Lebanon while the Israel-Palestine conflict rages in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The conflict escalated into a humanitarian crisis Oct. 7 when the Aqsa Storm attack initiated an attack on Israel by Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.
As the conflict intensifies in Gaza, tensions have risen along Israel's border with Lebanon.
Three Hezbollah members, two Islamic Jihad members, and an Israeli officer have been killed in border fighting.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari announced readiness for a potential attack from the north.
He said soldiers are patrolling the vicinity of residential areas, setting up checkpoints and preparing traps.
Hagari said the region will be reinforced with additional troops.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said settlements near the Lebanon border are being evacuated, as well as near the Gaza Strip.
But the Israeli military informed Anadolu that it had not yet evacuated civilians, suggesting that Israelis who wished to leave those areas might have already done so voluntarily.
Extreme right-wing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on social media that 900 of 4,000 automatic weapons purchased for the distribution to civilians in the Lebanon border areas had been delivered.
- Israel's military buildup in the north is palpable
Anadolu captured military movements on the Israel-Lebanon front, one of the most critical points after the Gaza front.
Numerous armored vehicles and tanks were seen moving toward northern Israel.
Vehicles parked by soldiers stretch for hundreds of meters near military bases along the route.
The military and police stop vehicles heading to the Lebanon border at security checkpoints.
The iron gates at the entrances to Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights are left open to allow vehicles to pass, and checkpoints are guarded by armed soldiers.
Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) also conduct reconnaissance flights in the area.
Attack alarms sounded in Israeli settlements near the Lebanon border late Wednesday. Explosions were heard in the region before fighter jets took off.
The Israeli army initially announced an airspace breach from Lebanon but later clarified that it was a “false alarm.”
The Israel-Lebanon border is now closer to intense conflict for the first time since the July War of 2006.
In a scenario where the US sends a warship to the Eastern Mediterranean, there are concerns that a new front opening in northern Israel could escalate the conflict to a regional scale.
*Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul