Haaretz: 4 out of every 10 evacuees from the north won’t return after the war

Haaretz newspaper reported that approximately 80,000 settlers living near the Lebanese border have evacuated the area since the beginning of the war, or have been evacuated from it.

A survey conducted by the Regional Knowledge Center at the Tal Hai Academic College and the group of authorities in the Eastern Galilee revealed that about only 60% are sure that they will return when the fighting ends, and that 4 out of every 10 evacuees won’t return, and these are huge numbers.

According to the spokesman for Kibbutz Miskav Am, “fear is greater towards the young people who in recent years have brought new blood into the old settlements… As soon as one security incident occurs here, 30% of them will rise up and leave, because they have not witnessed security tension even for a single second”.

He added, “Houses a few dozen meters from the Lebanese border have become, three months after the start of the fighting, a red dot on the map, within Hezbollah’s range”.

In turn, Benny Ben Mofhar, head of the Eastern Galilee Group and head of the Mevoot Hermon Regional Council, said, “The results of the study clearly show that the settlers of the Eastern Galilee do not intend to return to their settlements until complete security is achieved in the region,” calling for “a responsible military-political solution… The settlers haven’t tolerance for temporary solutions”.

As for the director of the local community in Kibbutz Yifthah, Jonathan Friedman, he confirmed that the settlers are afraid of the day when they are asked to return, because they won’t be able to even imagine returning to their settlements without fortified rooms.

The survey showed that the factor that will contribute most to the northern settlers’ sense of security is removing Hezbollah forces from the northern border, while ensuring that it does not operate in the demilitarized zone in Lebanon, in accordance with United Nations Resolution 1701, and also striking its infrastructure.

In this context, the survey revealed a worrying picture of the psychological and economic situation of the settlers of the Eastern Galilee, some of whom have been dealing for 3 months with challenges and difficulties resulting from the ongoing fighting against Hezbollah.

The survey participants sought to examine the emergence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among settlers, and their findings painted a bleak picture of their mental and emotional state.

According to data from the Lior Tsvati Center for Research on Suicide and Psychological Pain, 16% of the settlers suffered from post-traumatic stress symptoms before the start of the fighting, but after the start of the war the numbers rose to 30%.

On the other hand, the picture of the symptoms of psychological difficulties in reality among the settlers of the Eastern Galilee indicates that they have almost doubled the condition of the rest, according to the survey.

The survey showed that 54% of settlers who evacuated their homes independently and aren’t in a community environment or receiving organized psychological support suffer from post-traumatic feelings.

Among the evacuated residents, 48% of them reported post-traumatic feelings, while 40% of the residents who remained in their homes witnessed the development of psychological difficulties as a result of the war situation.

Also, nearly 90% of business owners and independent workers in the Eastern Galilee reported damage to their incomes after the war, with nearly half of them facing a decline of more than 50% in their income during this period.

It’s noteworthy that the survey, which was conducted with the support of the heads of settlements in the region, who fear a demographic crisis with the end of the war, participated in about 2,000 settlers from all the group’s authorities, of whom 52% were evacuated or evacuated independently, while 48% of them remained.

In this context, Israel Hayom newspaper spoke of the necessity of making preparations that include huge shelters, rescue teams, and coordination with settlement authorities, in the event that the war with Hezbollah expands.

Israel Hayom added, “The dimensions of the war on the home front relate to defense, shelter, fortification, infrastructure, and search and rescue; Not all apartments are optimally fortified, while it’s expected that residence in shelters will continue depending on the duration of Hezbollah’s initial attack”.

Israel Hayom pointed out that the home front will suffer from a power outage, which may extend from a few hours to several days in the event of damage to the infrastructure, noting the establishment of rescue brigades on a scale that is supposed to respond to injuries and dozens of accidents daily on a comprehensive northern front.

The former minister in the Israeli government, Meir Sheetrit, had said that if a war broke out with Lebanon, Hezbollah’s missiles “won’t only reach Kiryat Shmona, but will also reach Tel Aviv, Dimona, and any place deep inside Israel”.

In an interview with the Israeli Kan channel, Sheetrit acknowledged the importance of Hezbollah’s missile arsenal, noting that the party possesses long-range and accurate missiles with a GPS system, pointing out that this is the most dangerous matter for Israel.

Amid the talk about these facts and the increasing intensity of the resistance strikes, the settlers’ resentment in the north against the government and the Israeli army increased for their failure to address the threat of Hezbollah, which, in addition to its military operations, is waging a psychological war on more than one front against these settlers as well, especially through Its military media documents the operations that reach them.

This comes as Hezbollah continues targeting Israeli settlements and military barracks in northern Israel, in response to the Israeli war against Gaza.