Is Israel on the brink of a three-front war?Voices from the forgotten front
Kiryat Shmona is located in the northern Galil, just two kilometers from the Lebanese border. Although the city has recently been in the news due to Hezbollah missile assaults, attacks from this terrorist organization have been a common occurrence since October 7. The city has become a ghost town: Nearly 90 percent of the population has had to evacuate due to constant attacks, with most of the residents spread out among some 230 hotels from nearby Teveria all the way down to Eilat. Only about 3,000 people still live in the city, most of them essential workers, plus older people and those with disabilities for whom staying is easier than picking up and moving.
The daily lives of all its inhabitants —those who’ve stayed and those who’ve fled — have changed drastically since the war began, and the person in charge is the mayor, 38-year-old Avichai Stern, who says that, “Since October 7, I’m the father of 25,000 citizens.”
I grew up in Kiryat Shmona, and despite living with constant threats from Lebanon, no one thought we would be out of our homes for 10 months. We also never believed that October 7 would actually happen, even though we’ve been hearing threats from Hezbollah for years about their desire to conquer the Galil. The truth is, we always took it as something more in the realm of fantasy — until we realized that that they could really do it. We’re fortunate that the terrorists didn’t decide to start in the North.
Since October 7, we’ve had close to 400 impacts, and that’s after the interceptions. We’ve had over 4,000 rockets and missiles launched at us. Our warning time, because we’re so close to the border, is only about ten seconds, and sometimes the rocket strikes even before the siren goes off.
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