In Kiryat Shmona, the Israelis test the ground for a possible return – Technologist

Elad walked through the city center a little hesitant, like venturing into water that’s a bit too cold. “It’s usually very lively here. But for the past year, it’s been empty. And I’ve got used to the silence,” said the 39-year-old carpenter, exploring Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday, November 27, the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Located two kilometers from the Lebanese border in the north of Israel, the city of 25,000 inhabitants is part of the area vacated by 60,000 Israelis since October 8, 2023 when Hezbollah attacked Israel “in solidarity with the Palestinians” following the massacre carried out by Hamas the day before in the vicinity of Gaza.

Since then, Kiryat Shmona has not been abandoned, but lives in a kind of suspended time, waiting to be awakened by its inhabitants’ return. For 14 months, Hezbollah has been firing rockets into a town that has become militarized. Israeli soldiers lodge in the town’s schools and park their vehicles in one of the main shopping centers.

Elad, of solid build and with brown hair, who didn’t want to give his surname, lives in the kibbutz of Kfar Szold, a 10-minute drive from the evacuated zone. He came to see the effects of a rocket that fell the day before in the neighborhood where his grandparents own an apartment. The projectile blew out some of the shopping center’s windows and splintered a few buildings. Below, cars whizzed past on the deserted, sodden main road. In these early hours of the ceasefire, there was no sign of the evacuated residents returning.

Noise from gardening tools

During the 14 months of war, Elad often came to see the state of the city. “I’d come and go. But this time I’m staying a little longer. We’ll see if the ceasefire holds. But I don’t think we can get much better. It’s not just Israel that decides. We’re not alone in the region. I hope, in any case, that this is the start of a process that will allow the displaced to return,” said Elad.

The rocket spared his grandparents’ apartment. He entered for the first time in 14 months. All was well. The electricity worked. There had been no leaks. It was as if the tenants had moved out the day before. Suddenly, on the other side of the ridge overlooking Kiryat Shmona, bursts of heavy machine-gun fire resounded. But it wasn’t enough to wipe away Elad’s half-smile. The bursts ceased, and soon other noises took over, sounds of gardeners’ tools trimming hedges and raking leaves. Not with a view to a possible return, but as part of regular maintenance, said Mohammed Higazi, a resident of nearby Tamra, home to 35,000 Palestinians in Israel. All he wants is the return of peace, and above all, law and order, to an Arab community ravaged by endemic crime, which the Israeli authorities allow to flourish.

You have 52.01% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.