Israelis Reluctant To Return To North Amid Hezbollah Threat: ‘We Don’t Feel Safe’

Via The Cradle

Israeli settlers are still reluctant to return to the northern settlements, which were evacuated as a result of Hezbollah’s pro-Palestine operations. 

Yedioth Ahronoth correspondent Yair Kraus reported that settlers from the Metula settlement have filed a petition with Israel’s Supreme Court requesting a conditional order and hearing to discuss an appeal for the settlement’s exclusion from the return protocol that is set to begin in early March. 

According to the correspondent, the Metula settlement council head, David Azoulay, argued that the Israeli government’s refusal to exempt Metula residents from returning has led to a “completely unreasonable” outcome. 

It would force the settlers to leave their current accommodation, places of employment, and schools to return to an area where 70 percent of the houses have been damaged or destroyed. Azoulay also highlights a continued “security risk.”

The settlers of Metula have urged Supreme Court representatives to inspect the settlement and reevaluate the decision.  Kraus said over 2,200 projectiles struck the settlement during the war, which began in October 2023, damaging both homes and public infrastructure. The council petition states that there is no protection due to a lack of proper shelter or fortified rooms. 

Hospitals are closed, and schools are unfit to accommodate students. “For this reason, it was stated that the current situation in Metula does not allow for commercial activities, tourism (as all hotels and dozens of guest houses were damaged), agriculture, community life, welfare, health services, and more,” Kraus added. 

A settler from the Misgav Am settlement, which was also heavily targeted by the Lebanese Shia resistance group, told the Ynet news site: “I’m not feeling safe. Most people are not feeling safe because nobody knows what will happen. Now, the army has left Lebanon. So, people, I think, will wait to see what happens at the border.”

“You can see on the other side, all the Lebanese are coming home. We’re not coming home yet,” he added.  “The ceasefire with Lebanon is not ideal. It doesn’t give us the full meaning of peace,” another settler told Ynet. 

Missile, rocket, and drone attacks launched by Hezbollah from the start of the war until the announcement of the Lebanon ceasefire caused major destruction in many northern settlements – from which tens of thousands of settlers were forced to evacuate.

According to property tax data obtained by Ynet in late November, “a disturbing partial image emerges that indicates destruction and damage to approximately 9,000 buildings and over 7,000 vehicles that were damaged mainly by Hezbollah fire.”

Late Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed before his assassination that the settlers of the north would not return before a ceasefire was reached in Gaza. While the war in Lebanon came to an end before the Gaza ceasefire, most settlers are still refraining from returning due to a sense of unease. 

Citizens of south Lebanon border villages have returned to their homes despite massive destruction and the continued presence of Israeli forces on their land.