Citizens of an Arab Village in Northern Israel Examine Damage from Hezbollah Shelling
(AWP) - “Sometimes there is a security incident. When this takes place, the streets are sealed off, and no entrance or exit is allowed. We remain like this for two, three or even four hours. The people cannot get in or out without a license presented to the army.”
8-VARIOUS OF THE STREETS IN THE VILLAGE
STORY: The inhabitants of a border village in northern Israel returned to their homes after being away for months, and examined the damage caused by shelling from the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which left 18 people wounded, one of whom was pronounced dead on Sunday.
The village, with a population of no more than 1,400, falls within the firing range of Hezbollah, which bombed a social center that Israeli soldiers used as a mess.
The Lebanese group announced it had waged an attack with missiles and drones on a military site in northern Israel, while the Israeli Galilee Medical Center said 18 were wounded in the attack.
On Sunday, the Israeli army announced the death of an officer from wounds he had sustained in the Hezbollah attack.
Footage of the Arab World Press (AWP) showed devastation in the village.
Sa’il Saad, Chairman of the Local Commission of Arab Al-Aramshe village, said in statements to AWP that the majority of inhabitants complained of “anxiety, tension and psychological stress.”
“The situation is not good. Most of the inhabitants live with anxiety, tension and psychological stress from day to day and moment to moment, not knowing what could happen tomorrow or the day after,” he said.
“The people in the village have grown more tense after the incidents that took place a few days ago. Since the war began, the government has put the people in hotels in the city of Nazareth. They spent two or three months there, but got bored," noted Saad.
Saad pointed out that the residents’ financial status had become critical.
“They started to return to their original areas nearly two or three months ago. Nearly 80% of the people are already back in the village,” he added.
The Israeli army and Hezbollah have exchanged fire on a near-daily basis since the war broke out in the Gaza Strip on 7 October.
Arab Al-Aramshe is a Bedouin village located on the Lebanese-Israeli border. The inhabitants are of Iraqi, Lebanese and Syrian origin.
The Blue Line of armistice between Lebanon and Israel divided the village into two sections. The first fell under Israeli control in the aftermath of the 1948 war, while the second remained as Zahajra, a village in the Lebanese territories.