Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to take “strong action” against Hezbollah after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said they were ready for “an attack in the north”.

The Israeli prime minister toured the country’s northern border with Lebanon on Wednesday and said: “Whoever thinks that they can harm us and we will sit idly by is making a big mistake. We are prepared for a very strong action in the north. In one way or another we will restore security to the north.”

Wildfires are raging in the north of Israel as a result of Hezbollah strikes. At least 100,000 Israelis have been displaced since the terror group began a solidarity operation following the Hamas invasion of Oct 7, and in southern Lebanon, tens of thousands more have been displaced.

Israelis still living a short distance from the border are enduring through daily bombardments with well over 3,000 projectiles launched towards Israel from Lebanon since the start of the war.

Bushfires have been blazing for days after Hezbollah rocket bombardments with firefighters battling to control the crisis which has been escalating over recent weeks and is exacerbated by rising temperatures.

Over 3,500 acres of land have been destroyed so far.

On Tuesday, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, the IDF Chief of Staff, said that Israel is close to making a decision regarding Hezbollah’s daily bombardments which have escalated since January when 26 UAVs were launched at Israel, reaching 90 in May, in addition to thousands more rockets and missiles.

“We are approaching the point where a decision will have to be made, and the IDF is prepared and very ready for this decision,” Lt Halevi said during an assessment with military officials.

“We have been attacking for eight months, and Hezbollah is paying a very, very high price. It has increased its strengths in recent days and we are prepared after a very good process of training… to move to an attack in the north,” he said.

“[We have] strong defences, readiness to attack, [and] we are approaching a decision point,” he added.

Shadi Khaloul, a veteran IDF major and resident of Israel’s Jish-Gush Halav, less than four kilometres from the border, said the population in northern Israel is “losing hope”.

“The feeling is that if we don’t eliminate Hezbollah, the displaced populations won’t come back home because we can’t trust these militia groups any more after what happened on October 7,” he said. “Hezbollah is much stronger and what could happen here will be much worse.”

Mr Khaloul, the founder of the Aramaic Christian Galilee Centre said while the residents have not been told of an incoming war, they see the escalation with more rockets, drones and sirens.

“Last week we had a barrage of 30 rockets that fell half a kilometre from our home, starting a huge fire. It was very scary. We aren’t used to the fires on top of the rockets, so it adds another angle which we don’t know how to predict.

“Firefighters are taking many hours to control the blaze. I couldn’t breathe from the smoke so I had to drive to another part of the country until the evening.”

Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy leader, told broadcaster Al Jazeera that the group’s intention was not to widen the war but that the Lebanon front would not stop until the Gaza war stops.

Matthew Miller, the US State Department spokesman, said Washington does “not support a full war with Hezbollah” but agreed that Israel had the right to defend itself from Hezbollah attacks.

“We’ve heard Israeli leaders say the solution that they prefer is a diplomatic solution. And obviously that is the solution that we prefer too and that we’re trying to pursue,” he said.