A truck was transporting an Israeli tank returned from Lebanon. Residents were visiting their damaged homes near the border for the first time in a year. Israeli soldiers were bathing in a natural hot spring in the rain, in an area where sirens screamed the previous night.
The first signs of the cease-fire agreement between Lebanon and Israel were visible on Wednesday in northern Israel, but most Israelis were hesitant to return to a region that has largely been abandoned for a year under near daily attacks by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Many residents have settled into new housing and enrolled their children in schools elsewhere. They don’t plan to return home until they are sure the cease-fire is holding.
The Israeli government promised to retaliate immediately to any violations of the cease-fire, and officials are not encouraging residents to return yet. Those who do show up are generally there for a quick visit.
“It was devastating to see the damage to our house with my own eyes,” said Galit Doctorsh, 45, who used the truce as an opportunity to return home with her husband for the first time in more than six months, picking up warm clothing for their children. Their town, Metula, is just a few hundred yards from the Lebanese border and suffered significant damage during the war. Dozens of homes were in ruins. The Doctorshes’ car was destroyed by a strike that damaged the front of their home.
Nearly two months after Israel launched an invasion into southern Lebanon, a cease-fire agreement that took effect Wednesday offered hope for a return to normalcy in areas largely deserted for over a year, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in Gaza.
While Israeli troops remain in Lebanon, the military has begun withdrawing some forces. Along a road leading to the border, several mud-covered tanks returned from the battlefield, surrounded by soldiers in military jackets who said they were both exhausted and relieved.
In Kiryat Shmona, Israel’s northernmost city, shops were still shuttered and streets were mostly empty. Yet a few more civilian cars were moving along its main road as a small trickle of residents seized the opportunity for visits considered too risky before Wednesday.
The clearest sign of the new reality was the quiet. There were no sirens warning of incoming rockets from Lebanon or the deafening blasts of Israeli artillery fire that had shaken the city day and night.
“I brought my 87-year-old mother to visit my father’s grave for the first time since the funeral,” said Lior Bez, 51, a member of Metula’s emergency squad. The town remained closed to visitors. Three soldiers manning the gate allowed entry only to residents, turning away others who braved the rain aiming to see the marks of war.
Residents were conflicted about the deal. While they said they looked forward to returning home, they remained skeptical that the agreement would ensure their safety. Some, however, were already preparing for more peaceful days.
Mr. Bez, who owns several getaway cabins damaged in a Hezbollah strike, was busy repairing them.
Some soldiers who fought in Lebanon took advantage of the calm to relax in a natural hot spring in the Golan Heights.
“Yesterday we were still engaged in intense military missions around the border,” said one, David Abokasis, “but now we can blow off some steam.”
The post Northern Israel Somber as a Few Soldiers and Residents Trickle Through appeared first on New York Times.
