Over 40% of residents won’t return to Israel's northern towns

The settlements located in northern Israel have turned into ghost towns, after about 60,000 Israelis left their homes near Lebanon due to the fighting in the area. While more than 40 per cent of the population do not plan to return to their homes.

America’s Wall Street Journal said in a report today that “nearly eight months after being evacuated from region bordering Lebanon, more than 60,000 Israelis remain displaced, part of a broader wave of lives upended by the fighting across the region.”

Hezbollah in Lebanon pledged to continue fighting until Israel stops its ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The newspaper pointed out that, unlike those in southern Israel who are returning to their homes, their counterparts in the north have no idea when they will be able to return.

According to the newspaper, the residents of northern Israel “are now among the most vociferous protesters in Israel, pressuring their government to make the northern stretches of the country safe to return to,” adding, “They are sceptical about attempts to reach a diplomatic agreement with Hezbollah, which Israel and the United Nations say has flouted previous deals.”

As the new school year approaches in September 2024, some residents of northern Israel are putting down roots in their new areas, buying or renting new homes.

Some in Israel fear that the northern border will remain uninhabitable or completely undesirable to live in for years. This would pose a strategic, economic and symbolic loss for Israel, a country that has invested heavily in ensuring settlement of Israelis on the land of all historic Palestine and areas it has occupied in Syria.

The newspaper indicated that “roughly one-third of all evacuees from northern Israel hail from Kiryat Shmona, a city just a few miles from the Lebanese border that has had its population reduced to just 3,000, from 24,000 before Oct. 7.”

The city’s Mayor, Avichai Stern, said most of those remaining are government employees, including police officers, elderly residents who refuse to leave, and those who cannot leave, such as families of children with special needs.

For their part, Israeli and American officials expressed their hope that once the fighting in Gaza stops, an agreement can be reached with Hezbollah to remove their fighters from Israel’s borders.

READ: Israeli army continues bombarding southern Lebanon, with several casualties feared