Official: Israel’s northern neighbours not ready for war

Buildings in the north of Israel are not fortified and cannot withstand a war, the chief of local councils in the area has warned.

“It is good that we were asked to show the immunity of our cities, but how can we do this? We have no emergency rooms, no communication sets and no electricity,” chief of one of the councils said, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

Last week, the Israeli cabinet approved a multi-year plan to improve security in the buildings in the north, but Yedioth Ahronoth reported the then Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying the government buried the plan.

Gabi Niman, chief of Shlomi neighbourhood, near the borders with Lebanon, said: “There are 1,000 homes out of 2,100 homes without secure rooms made of cement.”

He said that they were briefed about the situation, noting there is a “horrific threat” from Hezbollah, which is able to launch up to 1,000 rockets a day.

Residents were promised 500 million shekels ($142 million) to help protect the infrastructure in the north, Niman said, but this money does not exist and “I do not think we will see it.”

Israeli air strikes hit a military position belonging to a Palestinian group in Lebanon, near the Syrian border, early yesterday. President Michel Aoun said that Lebanon had a right to defend itself, likening Israeli drone strikes to a “declaration of war” increasing fears that the two countries may once again come face to face in conflict.

Lebanon PM: Israeli drones in Beirut threaten Lebanon’s sovereignty