Amid the the IDF reorganization into a buffer zone along the border with Lebanon, the Ministry of Defense and the IDF are speeding up the “Northern Shield” project. As of this morning (Tuesday), 1,240 fortified security rooms (known officially as residential secure spaces – mamads) are simultaneously under construction in 17 communities along the northern border.
Next month, construction will begin on dozens of additional secure rooms, adding to the hundreds already completed and delivered to residents. In the Mateh Asher Regional Council, work is underway on 181 out of 196 planned secure spaces. In Ma’ale Yosef Regional Council, 52 out of 56 fortified rooms are being built, with similar progress in many other communities along the border.
The Redeployment in Lebanon
According to the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon signed at the end of November, IDF forces have completed the return to Israel of the vast majority of forces from areas captured in southern Lebanon, leaving some military presence to serve as a buffer zone to protect Israeli citizens along the border. In coordination with the United States, the IDF remains stationed at five key points in southern Lebanon which pose a high security threat and hold strategic importance for northern Israeli communities. Additionally, numerous military outposts have been established along the Israeli side of the border, and IDF forces have been reinforced.
The Five IDF Outposts:
- Al-Labouna facing the city of Shlomi, where the IDF discovered a large-scale military complex.
- Jabal Balat situated opposite the community of Zar’it, near the site where IDF soldiers were abducted in 2006, triggering the Second Lebanon War.
- Jabal al-Deir facing the area of Kibbutz Malkia.
- Markaba-Khulta opposite the towns of Margaliot and Manara, a region from which numerous anti-tank missiles were fired at these communities during the war.
- Hamamis Ridge facing Metula, at the northernmost tip of the Galilee Panhandle.
