Metula hotel takes direct hit from Hezbollah fire
Forget everything you know about Metula, the picturesque pastoral town. The northernmost community in the country, founded in 1896, has been declared a closed military zone for over five months now. Its 2,500 residents have been evacuated from their homes for an extended period, with no end in sight.
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No one here is picking apples or citrus fruits. That's life when just 150 meters away, Lebanese-Shiite villages serve as launchpads for Hezbollah terrorists, aiming precision-guided anti-tank missiles at Metula daily.
Dozens of homes have been destroyed, but unlike Kiryat Shmona, located eight kilometers to the south, no aid workers, insurance agents, or even food suppliers come. Only IDF forces and civil defense personnel remain.
I joined a press tour intended for foreign journalists. "Move quickly and be cautious, Hezbollah is watching us," warned Suzie Arnea, a representative from the Government Press Office. The streets are completely deserted, and the fruit trees in are bursting with abundance, with no one able to help with the harvest.
Mayor David Azoulay leads us into the damaged houses. Destruction is visible from almost every angle. The scenery here is breathtaking, but missile strikes from Lebanon mar what could have been a perfect picture.
"There's anti-tank missile fire hitting homes every day. We're trying to protect the houses, but we're not succeeding," Azoulay says. "We're still waiting for a decision from the Israeli government. 100,000 people along the border haven't been in their homes for almost half a year now. The area from the border, for five kilometers south is empty of residents, only soldiers. We have agricultural lands, we have apples. We don't have residents, we don't have tourism, it makes no sense," he says.
Azoulay gestures toward the nearby border fence. "Just 150 meters from there is the village from which Hezbollah fires at us. If they shoot at us now, maybe a real war will break out because there are journalists here from all over the world," he says sarcastically.
The main message from the mayor to the international media is that this is the most serious situation in Metula's history, and it cannot continue. "We are for peace and security. The Americans need to wrap up their story with the Iranians. Once the Iranians calm down - there won't be Hezbollah," he says. "The world must act against any country's aggression toward another country. Let the Americans and the world come to Lebanon and say, 'You have a week. If you don't stop - we will take care of you'."