Northern Israel’s cities are caught in the crosshairs

Kiryat Bialik is a quiet and pretty city that makes up one of the five cities north of Haifa, collectively known as the Krayot. Driving through the area on route 4, which connects Haifa with cities to the north, such as Acre and Nahariya, these connected cities seem on the surface to be one long suburb north of Haifa. They are laid out along the long arc of Haifa Bay, which stretches for five kilometers from Haifa to Acra.

On Sunday morning, September 22, a rocket struck Kiryat Bialik, wounding several people, burning cars, and damaging buildings. In the afternoon of September 22, the damage was visible; scars from flames had created dark patterns on the windows and street. There were also shrapnel marks scattered in the stucco, like a giant had tossed rocks around the street, intermittently hitting buildings in the neighborhood. A large Israeli flag draped over one of the damaged homes; a large flag with the symbol of Kiryat Bialik was next to it. This picture was a symbol of the solidarity here, the sense that the wounds and scars would be covered over quickly and people would feel support from the state.

Public shelters needed

I’ve spent many days in northern Israel since the war began on October 7 with the Hamas attack on Israel. Hezbollah began its attacks the next day. It has launched more than 8,000 rockets at Israel. It has also fired anti-tank missiles and drones. Israel evacuated more than 60,000 people from the border because of fears that Hezbollah would try a mass attack the way Hamas did. However, evacuation is not an answer. Evacuating small communities was a short-term answer. Evacuating Kiryat Shmona, a city of almost 30,000 people, sent the wrong message. Now, Israel is not evacuating the North. However, the lessons have not been learned in terms of providing shelters to the public.