Smoke rises from Maroun al-Ras, one of the villages of southern Lebanon. Nearby, there is dark smoke from a fire burning further to the east. It can be seen from an area in northern Israel near Dalton, a moshav that is not far from Lebanon. This area has fields of grapevines, that earlier in the year were likely bursting with grapes. Now the leaves are tired and drooping, slowly drying and waiting for winter. They are also observing the escalating war between Israel and Hezbollah.
In the early hours of Monday, September 23, the IDF began a round of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon. The strikes came a day after Hezbollah had launched long-range rockets targeting areas near Haifa. One of the rockets fell in Kiryat Bialik, wounding several people and damaging homes. The IDF is now expanding strikes on Hezbollah several days after hitting Hezbollah’s commanders of the elite Radwan force in Beirut.
These days, a drive along Israel’s northern border is interdicted by checkpoints that warn drivers to avoid traveling on dangerous roads. The security situation has turned much of the area near the border into a site of quiet, with few cars. It does not feel like a war zone, though. The hills here shield people from hearing airstrikes or even the interceptions of rockets. Nevertheless, the winding roads also give a driver the sense that at any moment, they can come over a hill and see into Lebanon and thus be within the range of Hezbollah’s anti-tank guided missiles.
I drove up from the coast via Nahariyah toward the villages of Jish, Fassuta, and Hurfiesh. Hurfeish is a Druze town. Fassuta and Jish are Christian. The road here also passes a turnoff for the Crusader castle of Montfort and other old forts and castles from the Ottoman period and other eras. As one nears Jish, there are also signs for holy tombs, tombs of the Druze and Jews. A road from Jish runs to Dalton. Here, southern Lebanon is laid out in the distance. For eleven months, Hezbollah has been attacking these areas, firing rockets at towns and communities here. The Druze and Arab villages have not evacuated, but Israeli communities closer to the border have been evacuated.As the IDF carried out hundreds of strikes on Hezbollah on September 23, smoke rose from southern Lebanon. Near Jish, I stopped on the side of the road, and there were sirens. I donned a helmet and waited. The sirens ended, and I continued on my way toward Ramot Naftali.
The road here passes the Circassian village of Rehaniya. It was part of the mosaic of diversity up here. Behind me, far in the distance, is Mount Meron and Safed. Hezbollah launched rockets at Safed and areas east of the Kinneret on September 23 as well. At this time, I was driving down the ridgeline toward the Huleh valley. The Huleh is beautiful this time of year; the ancient swamp was drained long ago, but parts of it remain.
There was a time when this area would have been overrun by tourists, the wineries open and flowing. Now half a million children in northern Israel are home due to the Home Front instructions to keep people safe and away from schools.
Down in the valley
Down in the valley, many shops and even restaurants that had remained open for the last eleven months are closed. The well-known Kvish Tish hamburger restaurant near Mehanayim was closed, and only takeaway could be purchased. The Aroma, which is on route 90 south of Kiryat Shmona, was closed.Northern Israel is closing down increasingly amid the situation. While Israel had evacuated the border of 60,000 people for eleven months, now the Hezbollah rocket threat is growing in range. Hezbollah had already sought to increase its attacks, bit by bit, over the last months. Hezbollah wants to drag Israel into a long war of attrition to cause economic disruption in Israel and force Israelis to stay home.There is a sense of waiting in the north. The waiting has gone on for eleven months. Israel has been on the defense. Now Israel is turning the tables by striking Hezbollah more. However, the waiting game continues.
People wonder what will come next. They are pleased to see Hezbollah suffer losses, but they wonder whether this situation can be reversed. Israel has prepared for this situation for months. Local security teams are prepared, and the IDF and Home Front command are prepared.
There is a sense here that the worst is yet to come, many people told me that it hasn't even begun. On the roads, there is a sense of emptiness as well. People don’t want to get used to this sense of an impending larger war, but they know there is no other choice.