Residents of Israel's north slowly return home but fear another war

On a lush green hilltop on Israel's northern border with Lebanon, Carmela Keren Yakuti proudly shows off her home in Dovev, which she fled more than 16 months ago over fears of a Hezbollah attack.

"Now that everyone is back, it's an amazing feeling," said Yakuti, 40, standing on her freshly washed patio and breathing in the crisp country air.

"It's great here. We have a beautiful moshav, a beautiful view," she added, referring to what Israelis call a small agricultural community. "It's simply great to be back home."

On October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas' unprecedented attack on southern Israel triggered war in Gaza, Lebanon's Hezbollah group declared its support for the Palestinian militants and began firing rockets into northern Israel.

For their own protection, the Israeli military ordered Yakuti, her family, friends and neighbors to leave Dovev, and they were sent to live in a hotel in the city of Tiberius, further south.

In total, the hostilities with Hezbollah displaced around 60,000 residents of northern towns and villages, according to official data.

Half are yet to return home.

On the Lebanese side, more than one million people fled the south of the country, around 100,000 of whom are still displaced, according to the United Nations.

On November 27, 2024, after more than a year of hostilities, including two months of all-out war during which Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon, a truce agreement came into force.

Israeli authorities have said residents of northern border communities could return home from March 1.

Yakuti, who retrained as a beautician during the time she was displaced, said she immediately packed up her belongings, bid farewell to the "kind" hotel staff and moved back into her two-story home.

- Rockets, mortars -

While many of Dovev's residents were returning this week, the scene was not so joyous in other communities along Israel's northern border.

In the kibbutz community of Hanita, Or Ben Barak estimated that only about 20 or 30 families out of around 300 had come back.

"At first, there was this kind of euphoria when they announced that we could return," said Ben Barak, who counts his grandparents among the founders of the 97-year-old kibbutz.

"But now people are also seeing that the place isn't quite ready for living yet."

Ben Barak, 49, pointed out the multiple places where rockets and mortars had fallen, as well as the damage done by the heavy Israeli military vehicles such as tanks that passed through on their way into Lebanon.

Asked if he was concerned about security now the war was over, Ben Barak said that what worried him more was "what will happen with the community. Who will come back, how they will come back, and how many will come back?"

"I believe that in Lebanon, the army fought very hard and did everything it needed to do, but the real question is how to maintain this quiet," he said.

"That's the challenge -- how to guarantee a peaceful life for the next 20 to 30 years. That's the challenge for the state, and that will also determine whether people stay here."

Just down the hill from the still abandoned streets of Hanita, the town of Shlomi appeared to be returning to life.

At Baleli Falafel, Yonatan Baleli stuffed pita with salad and tahini as a long line of hungry customers waited to blaring trance music.

"I feel much safer than before, but do I feel 100 percent safe? No," said Ronit Fire, 54.

"It's not pleasant to say this, but it feels like it's just a matter of time," she said, adding that she believed there would be another war in the future.

"The next time will come again at some point," said Fire.