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Residents on Israel's Northern Border Stay Put despite Hizbullah Fire
(Wall Street Journal) Feliz Solomon - By the time the air-raid sirens sound in Kibbutz Kfar Giladi near the Lebanon border, Hizbullah's missiles are often only seconds away. The hundreds of people who live here keep mostly out of sight, trying to stay within steps of a shelter. The clap of outgoing Israeli artillery fire is almost constant. Israel is trying to carve out a buffer zone inside neighboring Lebanon that is deep enough to put communities like this one beyond the reach of Hizbullah. Many Israelis think it is a better option than evacuating civilians from the border. After the Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli authorities feared a similar incursion by the much more powerful Hizbullah and ordered 65,000 people who lived along the northern border to leave their homes. Almost everyone from Kfar Giladi came back. Long considered one of the world's most formidable militias, Hizbullah was weakened by Israeli attacks over the past two years. Tal Beeri, head of research at the Alma Center, an Israeli security think tank, said Hizbullah has retained a third of its pre-Oct. 7 missile arsenal.