Northern Israel Somber as a Few Soldiers and Residents Trickle Through

A truck was transporting an Israeli tank returned from Lebanon. Residents were visiting their damaged homes near the border for the first time in a year. Israeli soldiers were bathing in a natural hot spring in the rain, in an area where sirens screamed the previous night.

The first signs of the cease-fire agreement between Lebanon and Israel were visible on Wednesday in northern Israel, but most Israelis were hesitant to return to a region that has largely been abandoned for a year under near daily attacks by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Many residents have settled into new housing and enrolled their children in schools elsewhere. They don’t plan to return home until they are sure the cease-fire is holding.

The Israeli government promised to retaliate immediately to any violations of the cease-fire, and officials are not encouraging residents to return yet. Those who do show up are generally there for a quick visit.

“It was devastating to see the damage to our house with my own eyes,” said Galit Doctorsh, 45, who used the truce as an opportunity to return home with her husband for the first time in more than six months, picking up warm clothing for their children. Their town, Metula, is just a few hundred yards from the Lebanese border and suffered significant damage during the war. Dozens of homes were in ruins. The Doctorshes’ car was destroyed by a strike that damaged the front of their home.

Nearly two months after Israel launched an invasion into southern Lebanon, a cease-fire agreement that took effect Wednesday offered hope for a return to normalcy in areas largely deserted for over a year, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in Gaza.