In the past few weeks, various IDF units have been carrying out training exercises meant to prepare for combat on the ground in Lebanon, the most recent held by a reserve paratrooper unit. On Friday, the IDF chief of staff visited the northern border and met with senior commanders there. Hizballah, meanwhile, continues to launch explosive-laden drones and rockets into Israel, and Israeli jets continue to strike targets in Lebanon. The constant attacks, and fear of infiltration or even invasion, have depopulated a strip of northern Israel. Not the village of Jish (ancient Gush Halav), however, whose Aramean Christian residents refuse to abandon their homes, which lie just over two miles from the border and in the sites of Hizballah artillery.

Cnaan Lidor writes:

Unlike most of their Jewish neighbors in neighboring towns, Jish’s 3,000-odd residents have largely stayed put throughout the current escalation of hostilities with Hezbollah, which led to the evacuation of some 60,000 people from communities near the border.

Jish is an oasis of vibrancy and normalcy amid a largely deserted area. The axis of communal life here is the church and its daily services. Religiously, the church is Maronite. . . . Culturally, though, many of the churchgoers are Arameans, and, uniquely, some prayers in Jish are delivered in Aramaic.

The community’s day-to-day language is Arabic and the village has a mosque and a sizable Muslim minority. . . . As with Bedouins and Druze, enlistment to the army is non-compulsory for Arameans—but it’s a popular choice. Many Arameans consider themselves closer culturally, religiously, and ideologically to Jewish Israelis and Judaism than to Arabs and Islam.

“Only under a Jewish sovereign state can we even hope to live as free men and women. . . . This is survival for us, just as it is for you,” said [a local leader, Shadi] Khalloul.

For more than a year, the Iran-backed Houthis have been launching drones and missiles at ships traversing the Red Sea, as well as at Israeli territory, in support of Hamas. This development has drastically curtailed shipping through the Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, driving up trade prices. This week, the Trump administration began an extensive bombing campaign against the Houthis in an effort to reopen that crucial waterway. Burcu Ozcelik highlights another benefit of this action:

The administration has a broader geopolitical agenda—one that includes countering China’s economic leverage, particularly Beijing’s reliance on Iranian oil. By targeting the Houthis, the United States is not only safeguarding vital shipping lanes but also exerting pressure on the Iran-China energy nexus, a key component of Beijing’s strategic posture in the region.

China was the primary destination for up to 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports in 2024, underscoring the deepening economic ties between Beijing and Tehran despite U.S. sanctions. By helping fill Iranian coffers, China aids Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in financing proxies like the Houthis. Since October of last year, notable U.S. Treasury announcements have revealed covert links between China and the Houthis.

Striking the Houthis could trigger broader repercussions—not least by disrupting the flow of Iranian oil to China. While difficult to confirm, it is conceivable and has been reported, that the Houthis may have received financial or other forms of compensation from China (such as Chinese-made military components) in exchange for allowing freedom of passage for China-affiliated vessels in the Red Sea.