Israeli in Hezbollah Crossfire: ‘One Day Our Luck Will Run Out’

February 13, 2024

by: Alexandra Lukash and Nir (Shoko) Cohen ~ Ynetnews

Tuesday, 13 February 2024 | Over 500 homes and buildings have been damaged by Hezbollah rocket fire since October 7. Most homes were hit by shrapnel and debris, causing minor damages, but others took direct hits.

Tal Levit, a resident of Metula whose house was damaged by a rocket, told Ynet on Monday about the extent of the damages. “We’re doing our best, and our property has been damaged,” he said. “It’s a good thing that no one was harmed, but one day our luck will run out.”

Levit recounted the day a Hezbollah missile struck his house. “Hezbollah terrorists saw me entering the house, but they didn’t notice when I left. Two hours later, they fired a missile and directly hit my house.

“If the other side wanted peace with us, they wouldn’t be firing at us. We need to deal with this much more harshly, to take action to push them farther away,” he said.

Hezbollah has recently escalated its deployment of heavy rockets, including the Burkan and Falaq-1. These heavyweight, short-range rockets are designed to carry substantial warheads and inflict considerable damage. Hezbollah debuted the rockets in the current war at the beginning of November, according to the terror organization’s statements.

Firing incidents against Israeli communities close to the Lebanon border put the residents who have been evacuated from the area at risk, as many of the homeowners whose homes were damaged are seeking to begin repairing the damage. “Even moving them past the Litani River won’t be enough with the amount of rockets they have. Israel should…not ignore it,” Levit said.

Head of the Upper Galilee Regional Council, Giora Zaltz, said, “A lot of work will need to be done to return to towns. About half of the residents of northern communities have been evacuated. We demand two things from the government and the military. From the government, we demand to be able to open the new school year within our communities. If no action would take place to allow this, we’ll be in a very bad place.”

He added, “We demand the military have a more significant presence north of the border. The residents right now feel that they’re located between the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] and Hezbollah, instead of being the other way around. Direct rocket fire is a very serious threat, and the army and the state must act to remove it.”

According to him, “The threat of terrorists infiltrating the communities is a real and frightening threat as well, and that’s what the military needs to do: remove the threat of rocket fire, remove the threat of infiltrating terrorists, and be present so that Hezbollah and the residents could see it north of the border.”

He added, “The government must tell us clearly: our goal is for the next school year to start here in northern communities. Many people are looking elsewhere for their education. They won’t be here in 2025. Schools will close down. Therefore, a statement by the government, backed by military and diplomatic action is very important.”

Posted on February 13, 2024

Source: (Excerpt from an article originally published by Ynetnews on February 12, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

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