Israelis arrive at a weapons distribution point for people allowed to carry arms, at the Ayyelet HaShahar Kibbutz, in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border on Oct. 12. Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinians, have died since Oct. 7, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip, entered southern Israel in a surprise attack leading Israel to declare war on Hamas in Gaza on Oct. 8.JALAA MAREY/AFP/Getty Images
A kilometre south of the Lebanon border, the streets of the Israeli town of Shlomi are almost empty. Most shops and restaurants are closed. Many people have abandoned the town, while others are staying inside their homes, within reach of their reinforced-concrete safe rooms. They fear an assault by Hezbollah militants.
In the tense aftermath of last weekend’s Hamas attacks in southern Israel, anxieties about a possible cross-border assault are escalating sharply in many towns like this one along the country’s northern border. There are fears that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed armed group in Lebanon that has long opposed Israel, could seek to exploit the distractions of Israel’s current focus on Hamas, or could retaliate against an expected Israeli ground assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Shlomi, a town of about 7,000 people, is near the heart of this potential second front in Israel’s latest war.
At a gas station, one of the few functioning businesses in Shlomi, most customers these days are Israeli soldiers, fuelling their vehicles to prepare for potential clashes with Hezbollah. Few of the regular customers are around. The buzzing of Israeli military drones can be heard in the skies overhead.
“This is like a ghost town,” said Israel Ravid, a 34-year-old clerk at the gas station. Previously open around the clock, the station now closes its doors every night for safety reasons.
“The attack from Gaza on Saturday was something we’ve never seen before, and the fear is that it could happen from Lebanon,” he added. “This is very terrifying to people. The goals of Hezbollah and Hamas are the same: both want us out, preferably dead, not alive.”
The northern town of Shlomi, on the Israel-Lebanon border, on October 11, 2023.THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images
Earlier this week, a Hezbollah mortar shell exploded in Shlomi, just a few hundred metres from the gas station. It landed in an open area and nobody was injured, but it was seen as a sign of how the border attacks could escalate.
“It’s the smell of war,” said Shani Bouhbot, a 33-year-old resident of the town. “It’s very tense and stressful here. It’s quiet, but we know the war with Hezbollah is about to come. We know they want to support Hamas.”
For decades, northern Israel has witnessed frequent clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. “But today is different,” Ms. Bouhbot said. “We see the faces of our soldiers and citizens, and they’re angry. What happened with Hamas could happen with Hezbollah. I’m not worried about Hezbollah rockets – I’m worried about being slaughtered in our homes.”
Naaman Michael, a 67-year-old farmer of cattle and goats near the Lebanese border, said he will never consider leaving. But he noted many of those who remain are nervously staying close to their shelters. “Hezbollah will definitely be the next to attack,” he said.
The residents of Shlomi see the heavy military presence around them every day, but they disagree over whether they can trust the Israeli army to protect them. Mr. Michael said he is confident that the military will destroy Hamas soon. Ms. Bouhbot, however, said the attacks from Gaza were a sign of military failure.
Instead of relying on soldiers for protection, she brings knives into her car and her safe room. “We are stronger than those babies in the military who are 18 or 19 years old,” she said.
Even though their homes are 200 kilometres north of the towns Hamas attacked on Saturday, Shlomi residents said they are as traumatized as anyone. “Most of the citizens of Israel are going to need psychological treatment after this war,” Ms. Bouhbot said.
“The photos and videos from Hamas are reaching us, even if we don’t want to see them. They will be in our nightmares for years to come.”
Mr. Ravid, a former police officer, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after he was beaten and stoned by a mob in Jerusalem in 2021. He predicts a surge in PTSD diagnoses across Israel after the latest Hamas attacks. He said he can feel some of his own symptoms returning when he sees soldiers in his town, or when he hears the sirens that warn of Hezbollah rocket attacks.
“Every sound, every explosion or siren, is making me more nervous and agitated,” he said.
“This is a PTSD country. Most people are handling it by repressing it, but it comes to them anyway.”