A destroyed Israeli kibbutz on the Lebanese border starts to pick up the pieces. Who will return?
A destroyed Israeli kibbutz on the Lebanese border starts to pick up the pieces. Who will return?
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Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel is so close to the Lebanese border that patrons of a local pub joke, with gallows humor, that the militant group Hezbollah could see if they were eating sunflower seeds or potato chips with their beers. The proximity made Manara so vulnerable in the war between Israel and Hezbollah that rockets and explosive drones damaged the majority of homes, turning the tiny community into a symbol of the heavy price of fighting. The kibbutz's 300 residents were among the 60,000 Israelis evacuated by the government from communities along the Lebanese border during the 14-month war.
A tenuous ceasefire has largely held, though it was tested on Sunday as a 60-day deadline passed for Israel and Hezbollah to withdraw their forces from southern Lebanon. Health officials in Lebanon said at least 22 people were killed by Israeli fire when demonstrators attempted to enter villages still under Israeli control. Israel says it is committed to withdrawing but says the process will take additional time.
For now, residents of Israel's north are taking their time returning, uncertain when — or if — they will go back to shattered communities. Many wonder what future they can have in a place so exposed to violence. The vast majority of displaced families still haven't returned home.
In hard-hit places like Manara, some who have ventured back have found unlivable, blackened homes. It will take years to rebuild. “We are trying to understand what we can fix, what we can do better, how we can prepare for the next round (of fighting)," said Igor Abramovich, who remained in Manara during the war and believes it's just a matter of time before fighting erupts.
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