Along Israel’s northern border, increasing Hezbollah attacks raise fears of a second front in the war

On their fruit farm in Israel’s north, less than two kilometres from the border with Lebanon, brothers Nadav and Adam Ishach keep a grim souvenir of the last war that raged here.

Back in 2006, a Katyusha rocket was fired onto their property in Betzet by Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militia group that operates out of Lebanon and is again threatening war with Israel. The missile destroyed buildings and started a fire, but fortunately didn’t hurt anyone.

The brothers dragged bits and pieces of its motor and crumpled casing out for a CBC News crew to see during a recent visit.

In the past two weeks, rocket and artillery attacks from Lebanon have been intensifying, leading many to fear Israel’s war with Hamas may spread beyond Gaza to other fronts.

The brothers are hoping their souvenir is the only missile they ever encounter. But they’re not taking any chances: Their families have already evacuated in anticipation of fighting in Israel’s north, far from Gaza.

“It’s really scary,” said Nadav. He pointed out the zigzag concrete wall delineating the border between the two countries on a nearby hillside.

“We feel like they’re testing us because they [Hezbollah] see civilians and they shoot a missile,” he said.

In the last 48 hours, attacks across the border on Israeli communities and military positions have gone from sporadic to incessant.

Thursday night’s barrage of nine rockets and two anti-tank missiles represents the worst escalation of violence in the area in 17 years.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said about 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israeli positions near the border area of Mount Dov. He said Israel’s retaliation hit a unit of militants, killing three.

Hezbollah on Sunday announced the deaths of six fighters, raising to 26 the number of its members killed since the latest bout of fighting began.

At least 4,137 Palestinians have been killed in the war to date, including more than 1,500 children, Palestinian officials say. Israel says more than 1,400 of its citizens have been killed. Several Canadians have also died in the conflict.

Israel evacuates border towns

Lebanon claims a separate exchange of fire with Israel killed a journalist — the second one to die in a week.

Last week, Issam Abdallah who worked for Reuters news agency was killed and several other journalists were injured when their live-camera position was hit by what Lebanese officials say was an Israeli military shell.

While Hezbollah is the largest pro-Iran militia group operating in the border area, it is not the only one. A branch of Hamas in Lebanon claimed responsibility for attacks on Thursday into the city of Shmona that injured three people.

On Friday morning, in an indication of how seriously Israel’s military takes the possibility of a full-blown war on its northern border, it announced that the 20,000 residents of Shmona would be evacuated over the next couple of days.

“We’ve heard a lot of explosions, a lot of sirens. It’s really terrifying,” said Adam Ishach. He pointed out a blackened area on the hillside near the farm where he says a Hezbollah rocket struck and caused a small fire a day earlier.

Israel expanded planned evacuations of communities on its northern front with Lebanon on Sunday as cross-border clashes with Hezbollah fighters intensified.

After enacting a plan last week to move residents out of 28 border-area villages, and the nearby town of Kiryat Shmona, with state-funded temporary accommodation, Israel’s defence ministry said it was adding 14 communities to the list.

The town’s streets are eerily deserted. The only people remaining are those like the Ishach brothers who have to stay behind to keep their businesses going.

“If a fire comes near my farm, who is going to put it out ?” asked Nadav.

“We have fruit there that has to be picked and it’s a business that has to keep going. We have animals, we have horses — I cannot just walk out on them.”

The threat Hezbollah poses

The 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War lasted just over a month. It left more than 1,600 Lebanese civilians dead; 121 Israel soldiers and 44 civilians were also killed.

Canada and many other Western countries have already warned their citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial flights are still available.

Both Hezbollah and Hamas, which carried out the Oct. 7 attacks against communities in southern Israel, are designated as terrorist entities by Canada’s government.

Hezbollah, however, is more powerful and dangerous.

It is a key political player in Lebanon’s government, and its leaders claim it can field an army of 100,000 fighters. Western officials believe the militia has stockpiled thousands of long-range missiles that are accurate and powerful enough to destroy high rises in Israeli cities.

Iran’s foreign minister warned on Oct. 16 that if Israel’s bombing of Gaza continues, “alliance forces” in the region could carry out a “pre-emptive” action.

In a briefing Friday, Israeli Lt.-Col. Richard Hecht indicated that even as the intensity of the Hezbollah attacks increases, Israel will keep its response proportionate.

“It’s a hot zone. Every time they shoot, we shoot back,” he said.

Hecht said the calculation would change if Hezbollah uses what he referred to as “long-rangers” — missiles aimed at striking beyond the border area.

IDF found tunnels connecting Lebanon and Israel

Israel’s military believes Hezbollah has constructed an elaborate network of tunnels around Lebanon, just like Hamas further south.

In late 2018 and early 2019, Israeli soldiers found six tunnels running under the border into Israel, including one that had ventilation and electricity.

At the time, the IDF said it believed the tunnels were built specifically to facilitate a surprise attack on Israel and to move Hezbollah fighters into the country.

Nadav toured the tunnel after its discovery.

“I was stunned with how professional it was,” he said. “It’s terrifying when you look at it and realise the ability that they have to come in here.”

The brothers and their father have remained on the farm, but Nadav’s family has evacuated to the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College just over an hour’s drive to the south, near Afula.

The college’s administration has offered up dorms for the border families, as well as others who fled the violence near Gaza to stay as long as needed.

“We don’t know how much time we’re going to be here. I think more than two weeks,” Idan, Nadav’s wife, told our crew during a visit to her family’s dorm.

“We have a conflict with Hezbollah — we don’t feel that we have a conflict with the Lebanese people.”

Idan says she speaks to her husband several times a day — and especially after reports of cross-border attacks.

“I think that it’s the first time in my life that I hear from him that he’s afraid,” she said of Nadav.

Israel beefing up its presence along border with Lebanon

While she and her children are safe and well cared for by the college, Idan says she has mixed thoughts about leaving her farm.

“If everyone from the border goes to the centre [of Israel], what would happen to the borders? So the centre will become the new border?”

Israel’s military presence along its northern border has grown significantly in recent days. CBC News saw convoys of tanks and armoured personnel carriers heading north on highways and camps of reservists set up close to the border.

“There’s definitely much more [military],” said Adam. He said he’s confident the army will keep him and his farm safe, despite its failure to do so for the communities near Gaza that were savagely attacked on Oct. 7.

“This is our land. This is where we live,” said Nadav.