Israelis reluctant to return home despite cease-fire with Hezbollah

2024-12-17 15:40:03, Kosova & Bota CNA

Over 60,000 residents in northern Israel were evacuated 14 months ago, when Hezbollah began bombing the area in support of Hamas and the war against Israel. But after a fragile ceasefire was reached with Hezbollah in late November, some Israeli residents are returning, while others say they have chosen to wait and see how things develop. VOA correspondent Linda Gradstein reports from the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, near the border with Lebanon.

Along with 60,000 residents of northern Israel, most residents in Kiryat Shmona were evacuated two weeks after Hezbollah began firing rockets into the border area in October 2023. City officials say about 1,000 homes were destroyed by direct hits from missiles, or from their remains when the "Iron Dome" air defense system shot down the missiles. But now that the ceasefire with Lebanon has entered into force, some of the residents are returning, if only to see the condition of their homes.

"People are coming to see their homes. But it will probably take a long time for residents to come back to live here. We have to wait and see if the truce will continue ," Kiryat Shmona municipal employee Yotam Degani told VOA.

Ahi Natan is one of the 3,000 people, out of a total of 24,000 inhabitants, who stayed in the city since the beginning of the war. He serves as an army reservist in the local security forces and felt lucky that his mother, sister and children were evacuated before the house was hit by a Hezbollah rocket. Mr. Natan thinks that Israel rushed to reach a ceasefire with Lebanon.

"The decision to stop was wrong, as we don't think it was finished. We repelled Hezbollah. But we think they will come back and there will be another October 7, this time here in the north ," he told VOA.

In another settlement, in Dafna, hundreds of avocado trees were destroyed by fire caused by a rocket strike. Most of the trees will have to be cut down, says farmer Magen Shenhav. The damage will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"It is part of the war and we are not the only ones who suffered. And yet these trees are not people. I prefer the trees to be the victims and not the people ," said farmer Magen Shenhav to the Voice of America.

Like the other 1,000 residents of this border community, Mr. Shenhav's family was evacuated over a year ago. They say they are waiting to see what happens with the ceasefire with Lebanon before considering a return.

But some people don't wait. Barry and Orit Praag returned in June and stayed through multiple rocket attacks in September and October. Their son's house was damaged in one of the attacks.

"I came back because I see Dafna as my home. I believe I should live here. I was born here; I always grew up near the border ," Mrs. Praag told VOA.

Most of the 60,000 evacuees living near the border with Lebanon are closely following the events in neighboring Syria.

But their main concern is whether the ceasefire with Lebanon will hold during the two-month trial period. If the ceasefire holds, most say they will return to their homes./ VOA