Israeli general says security situation allows for northerners return

Israeli Northern Command chief Major General Uri Gordin has told the heads of authorities in north Israel near Lebanon’s border that "the security situation allows for a return (by evacuated residents) to the communities.”

“The IDF (Israeli army) will allow the opening of tourist sites (in north Israel) in early March," Gordin added.

Around 60,000 Israelis evacuated by the Israeli government from communities along the Lebanese border during a 14-month war with Hezbollah. A tenuous ceasefire has largely held, though both sides have accused each other of violations, and Israeli has kept its forces on five strategic Lebanese hills that overlook both south Lebanon and north Israel.

The vast majority of Israel’s evacuated residents still haven't returned to north Israel.

Hezbollah began launching rockets and missiles toward Israeli border settlements on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the deadly Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza. Soon after, Israel evacuated dozens of settlements along the border.

In Lebanon, at the height of the war, more than 1 million people were displaced, and reconstruction will take years, especially in southern border towns that were totally devastated.

Hezbollah rockets killed 77 people in Israel, more than half of them civilians. Israeli air and ground assaults killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians.

Israel made returning the displaced residents to their homes an aim in its war against Hezbollah and has promised incentives to entice them back. The return has been slow, in part because many residents are skeptical of the government's pledges to ensure their safety and because much work remains to rehabilitate communities.