‘They’re just as scared as us’: War brings fear and misery across Lebanon-Israel border

Civilians have lost homes and loved ones in months of cross-border strikes while threat of escalation looms daily

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Many of the thousands of civilians forced to flee southern Lebanon have no idea whether their homes are still standing.

Ali Sweid knows. The retired soldier’s house in the village of Dhayra – just on the Lebanese edge of the frontier with Israel – was destroyed in October. Two of his children were injured in the Israeli strike and he lost almost everything he owned.

That was over five months ago, shortly after Iran-backed Hezbollah fired missiles into northern Israel in support of its ally Hamas, who launched a deadly attack into southern Israel on October 7, prompting massive Israeli retribution in Gaza.

Since then, the conflict has gradually intensified, with Israel striking deeper north into Lebanese territory, and Hezbollah using heavier and more long-range weaponry to bombard northern Israel.

More than 318 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon so far – mostly Hezbollah fighters but also at least 54 civilians, according to an AFP tally. In Israel, at least 10 soldiers and seven civilians have been killed by attacks launched from Lebanon.

At least 90,000 people have been displaced from south Lebanon’s border towns, according to International Organisation for Migration estimates. Across the border, 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated by the government from 43 northern communities, and many more outside the official evacuation zone have also left their towns.

US-led attempts to find a diplomatic settlement have produced no results so far, leaving residents on both sides of the border forced to contend with the death and destruction – and fearing that things could still yet get worse.

Shortly after his house was destroyed, Mr Sweid moved his family down to a second house that they owned, a smaller one in lower Dhayra.

It was bombed, too. Much of Dhayra is now destroyed: homes, barns and agricultural fields.

Civilians in the south have been left at the mercy of the Israeli planes and drones that fly over Lebanese territory daily, bombarding the region with heavy munitions and toxic white phosphorus.

“Our village has become a front line for this conflict,” Mr Sweid told media resentfully.

“Every day we say it’ll be over soon but this keeps dragging on. Now this war has entered its sixth month.”

Just over the border in Israel, Avichai Stern shares a similar sentiment.

He is the mayor of Kiryat Shmona, a town that sits in the string of northern Israeli communities that have been evacuated due to the fighting with Hezbollah.

“I have no problem with an average Lebanese person,” Mr Stern said as an emergency generator whirred in the background of his bunker office. “I imagine they’re just as scared as us.”

While speaking to media, Mr Stern is interrupted by a call; the voice on the other end of the line informs him that a rocket has struck an area in the town.

Every time a building is hit in Kiryat Shmona, Mr Stern leaves the bunker to observe the damage, call the owners of the property, and organise security to guard the property.