The head of the Hurfeish municipal council, Anwar Amar, rushed to the scene of the drone explosion at the soccer field in his locality, not imagining that eight minutes later he would witness another attack, while the rescue forces were treating the wounded. He recorded himself lying flat on the ground with the arrival of a second explosives-laden drone.. Watch the exclusive video:
Head of the Hurfeish municipal council, Anwar Amar, during drone strike
"We came to rescue the wounded and a UAV fell on us, there are many wounded here, a very difficult and complex event. This is our reality, this is how we live here every day. We are waiting for the government to decide what to do, it is time to put an end to this. It is impossible to continue under this damned life," Amar said.
"The children are traumatized, wetting their beds at night, you can't live like this," he also said. "This government doesn't know how to make the decision. We are the defenders of the north, guarding the country here, and they don't visit us, just those who sit in the hotels. The people here are living in fear. None of the ministers of the government and the prime minister visited us except for one minister, the minister of the Negev and the Galilee."
Absurdly, beginning tomorrow, the IDF's decision to thin out the standby security squads in the localities near the Lebanese border - including Hurfeish - goes into effect. This means, that starting tomorrow, the squad in the locality will be cut by 50% - and the number of soldiers in the locality will be reduced from 40 to 20.
Amar is furious and wants to stop this. "The level of combat is rising and the risk is rising. Enough with the disassembling. Disband battalions, disband brigades - enough already. Do you want to dismantle us too?"
At least 9 people were injured Wednesday evening when an explosives-laden drone exploded. No alarm was triggered in the area by the unidentified aerial vehicle that crossed into Israel from Lebanon.
According to the estimates, the drones exploded on the soccer field in the village just a few minutes apart, in order to also harm the rescue forces that rushed to the scene. Three of the injured people were taken to Ziv Hospital in Safed, others were evacuated to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Some of the injured were in serious condition.
Due to the escalation in the north and the difficult incident, the War Cabinet will meet for an emergency discussion Thursday at 8 p.m.
Waleed Gadban, Hurfeish council chief of staff, said in a message to residents: "There were two falls within a span of about eight minutes. There are injured in various conditions, some of them were taken to the hospital." He called on residents not to come to the scene of the attack. "There are many curious people who have come and it is serious. Please stay in protected spaces," he also said.
Faiz Sarhan, a resident of the village and a member of the emergency squad, said: "I heard the falls and we didn't think of anything else but to come and save lives. This has become a routine for us since October 7. I'm sorry for the result here, we came to offer help. We are lucky because while we were working there another UAV fell. The alarm didn't work. This is the terrorist organization's method, it shoots and when a rescue force arrives it attacks again."
Mahmoud Shanan, a resident of the village said: "The atmosphere now is very difficult, one of fear and anxiety. The impact was direct, no alarm was activated before. There was a very loud 'boom'. This is an incident with many casualties and right now the atmosphere is very frightening, the children are crying and the parents are shocked and don't know what to do."
Drone attacks in Hurfeish
"Since it happened, we have entered the protected areas," said Kamala Fares, also a resident of Hurfeish. "We still hear explosions and aircraft movements. We are abandoned to our fate here."
Villages in northern Israel have suffered unprecedented damage in the last week. About 800 dunams out of about 20,000 in the Biriya forest caught fire, following Hezbollah rocket fire into the area. This is an area that was also damaged in the Second Lebanon War, and underwent rehabilitation. KKL-JNF workers and foresters used a drone on Wednesday to document the heavy damage at the site.