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Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/09/18/abandoned-homes-israel-hezbollah-war-lebanon/
Inside the Abandoned Homes Israel Wants Back since Hizbullah Began Daily Attacks in October
(Telegraph-UK) Jotam Confino - The stairway up to the first floor is full of broken glass, and what used to be the bedroom is in ruins. There's dust everywhere but above us blue skies where the roof used to be. Luckily, the old couple that lived here had already been evacuated from their home in Kibbutz Hanita when it took a direct hit from a rocket fired by Hizbullah. Their son, Erez, stayed behind and has been protecting the kibbutz. More than 9,000 rocket attacks have been detected in northern Israel since Oct. 8 last year. Erez, the kibbutz's security team commander, recalled how the 700 residents of Kibbutz Hanita were evacuated within a week of Oct. 7, including Erez's parents, his wife and three daughters, along with 60,000 other Israelis along the northern border. What used to be a lively community on Israel's border with Lebanon has, like dozens of other kibbutzim and villages, become a ghost town. These are the towns and villages Israel wants back for its people. Some 20 rockets have hit the kibbutz so far, but for every house they hit, another 10 are impacted by the blast, according to Erez. Last month, five Iranian-made suicide drones hit the kibbutz, all within five minutes. One of the drones landed in the kindergarten, starting a fire. I asked how much time we had to run for shelter if a siren went off. After all, Lebanon is just a few hundred meters from where we stood. "The siren and the explosion come at the same time. We don't have any time," he responded.