Reporter's Notebook: Kiryat Shmona under Hezbollah rocket fire for 11 months of war

On a narrow road in Kiryat Shmona, the northern city in Israel, there is a house that was struck several weeks ago by Hezbollah rocket fire. It was burned and now only the first floor remains, leaving only a shell of what was once a pretty home. This is one of numerous buildings damaged and destroyed in the city.

I’ve been to Kiryat Shmona many times since the war began last October. Each time is different and each time it strikes me how this city continues to be empty.

Ariel Frish, its deputy security officer, provided insights into the city’s current challenges. He also showed me several of the buildings struck by Hezbollah fire. Frish points out that the city faces hurdles to protect itself, as it remains evacuated. The schools, for instance, are not protected from the kinds of rockets Hezbollah has been firing.

Hezbollah has been acquiring and making new rockets that represent a unique threat up here in the North. For instance, they have the heavy Burkan rocket that can weigh from 150-500 kg. This is capable of major destruction and death. People in Kiryat Shmona are so close to the border with Lebanon that when sirens sound they don’t have time to get to shelters.

Driving around the city, which is striking because of how quiet and deserted it is, one can see some of the older community shelters. These large shelters, with numbers on them in various older neighborhoods, are too far for people to get to. Hezbollah also possesses many other types of weapons. It has the Falaq series of rockets, the same type it used to murder 12 people in Majdal Shams. “Even if a school has a safe room, there is no time for kids on the third floor to get to it,” Frish laments. “The biggest threat is the drones.”

An eerie quietness 

AS FRISH walks to his car to show one of the sites of a rocket impact, the birds can be heard. It’s quiet here. There’s no traffic, no people. It’s eerie. There is a slight smell of smoke in the air, maybe from a distant fire caused by a Hezbollah rocket.

Kiryat Shmona overlooks the Huleh valley, so haze, smoke and smells can hang in the valley. The city is not far from a ridgeline that overlooks it. Just beyond the ridge, on the Lebanese border, are two small Israeli communities called Menara and Margaliot, both of which are often subjected to Hezbollah attacks. North of the city are Kfar Giladi, Misgav Am and Metulla, other communities often attacked by the Iranian-backed terrorist organization.

Kiryat Shmona, however, is precariously placed because it sits at the bottom of the ridge, next to the valley. It’s close enough to Lebanon to be extremely vulnerable. This has been a problem for the city in the past when it was targeted by terrorists in the 1970s and 80s. But the terror is different today. Hezbollah has more rockets and missiles and it has more deadly weapons. The lack of protected areas for civilians has led to evacuation, as well as the fear of a Hezbollah invasion, which loomed last October.

There were once 24,000 people here; now only 2,000 remain. During my time there recently, I only saw one civilian. According to Frish, the city has sustained 760 direct hits from Hezbollah attacks and 19 public buildings were impacted. The sophisticated weapons are also part of Hezbollah’s attempts to test them and improve their capabilities.

“Until the threat is eliminated people will not come back,” says Frish. He illustrates this with a trip to the burned home and also another home that was impacted. A rocket damaged and burned cars in the yard. This is no way for civilians to live; it’s clear why people are not here.

Hezbollah will respond 

IN THE wake of the pager attack in Lebanon, in which thousands of Hezbollah members were injured, it is clear the organization will likely respond. There are numerous Hezbollah members dead now, pushing their overall death toll over 450 since the war began. Hezbollah has been playing with fire by its endless attacks on Israel and forcing the residents of places like Kiryat Shmona to leave. It has gotten away with this so far, for the most part.

People in the north want a solution. They want the terrorist group pushed back from the border. It’s clear now that evacuation was not a solution and was likely a mistake because people fear to come back. People also need to have the safety they deserve. They need shelters and protected schools. They need to have all the tools that will let them live normal lives.

As if to underpin the threat, on September 18, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at Israel. One fell in Tel Hai, next to Kfar Giladi. Tel Hai conjures up the importance of standing firm on the Land of Israel because of its role in the early Zionist pioneering settlement of the land up here in the North. There was a battle in Tel Hai in 1920 between Jews and Arabs that has long formed a key part of the history of the founding of Israel.

Today, northern Israel is struggling once again with that history and its place within the long journey the country has taken – to arrive at this moment of decision regarding the Hezbollah threat.