Returning to live in northern Israel: a border that does not recover the calm

MetulaIn Metula, there is not much time to react. When a siren sounds, the inhabitants know they have between fifteen and twenty seconds to reach the nearest shelter. If they do not reach it, there is only one last instruction that everyone knows by heart: lie down on the ground, protect your head with your hands, and hope that the shrapnel does not fall too close.

It is a routine that for almost three years has conditioned the life of this small municipality nestled between the mountains of Upper Galilee and the border with Lebanon. The various attacks by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia political movement and armed group allied with Iran, have left a visible mark on the streets: damaged facades, empty houses, and a persistent feeling that the calm can be broken at any moment.

Metula is one of the most exposed Israeli communities in the country. It is a town of just over 2,000 inhabitants, surrounded by Lebanon on three sides and with a single main road for entry and exit, Highway 90, which connects it to the largest city in the area, Kiryat Shmona. Its geography has always made it a vulnerable point, but after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the opening of the northern front with Hezbollah, which supported the Palestinian group, this vulnerability reached a level never seen before.

Now, this fragility is becoming visible again. The regional war between the United States, Israel, and Iran has reactivated fears in the north of the country, with Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran, still capable of threatening the Israeli border.

In March, in the midst of open war with Iran and Hezbollah, this feeling was palpable. Many houses kept their shutters down and the facades still showed the marks of previous impacts. Explosions coming from the other side of the border were felt with more intensity in the evening, and sirens interrupted any conversation.

During April, while a good part of Israel regained a certain sense of normality after weeks of war, in the north, life continued to be marked by alarms. The front with Hezbollah became one of the most persistent focuses of the crisis: cross-attacks continued despite various ceasefire announcements. Israel and Hezbollah continued to accuse each other of violating the commitments made.

The challenge of returning home

Today, Metula is trying to rebuild itself. There are cranes, workers repairing homes, and some facades that are coming back to life. But physical reconstruction is moving faster than the reconstruction of the community. Nearly 60,000 residents from northern border communities were evacuated in 2023, and Metula was left practically empty. Although the municipality does not offer concrete data, it is estimated that between a third and half of the residents have not returned.

“I haven't left at any point. This is my home,” says one of the neighbors we already spoke to in March. “If I leave, I stop defending my territory. I have a good enough shelter at home and we withstand the attacks there.” However, other neighbors do not think the same. For many families, especially those with children, the uncertainty of a new escalation still weighs heavily.

“You can rebuild a house, but you cannot force a family to return if they do not feel their children will be safe,” says another neighbor from the area. “In my family, what worries us most is this feeling of never being at peace. Not knowing if the Home Front Command alarm—the agency that coordinates civil protection during emergencies—will sound again tomorrow.”

In parallel with the reconstruction of homes, the Israeli government has announced plans to recover the region. In 2024, it presented a major reconstruction plan, with a projected investment of about 3.5 billion euros over five years. Despite this, many border communities still do not perceive that it has translated into a visible change or a sense of security.

The fact is that the calm remains fragile: Israel is intensifying attacks in southern Lebanon after accusing Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire signed in June. Lebanon has already accumulated more than four thousand deaths at the hands of the Israeli army, according to its Ministry of Health.

When reality refutes the narrative

This sense of insecurity has also begun to have a political impact. For many residents of the north, the government's narrative that Hezbollah had been weakened does not fit with the reality they have experienced for months.

This frustration has translated into a loss of support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud, traditionally strong in this area. A poll by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem conducted by Agam Labs and reported exclusively by Reuters in May indicated that only 23% of voters in the north would support the party in upcoming elections, scheduled for October 27, compared to the 35% it obtained in the 2022 elections.

Despite everything, in Metula there is not only absence and uncertainty. There are also neighbors who have decided to stay, workers rebuilding homes, and a community trying to regain its routine. For many residents, returning does not mean ignoring the risk, but rather reaffirming the bond with a place they consider their home. But the main challenge remains regaining trust in a border that has not yet fully recovered its calm.