Reporter's notebook'I don't feel this is the end of the war'

‘Fear is now in our DNA’: With pause in Hezbollah attacks, two border towns regroup

The 15-month war took its toll ‘not only physically but also emotionally’ on residents evacuated from Mattat, and those who stayed put in the Druze town of Hurfeish

Reporter at The Times of Israel

  • Shay Herz stands on the porch of his house in Mattat, northern Israel, with a view of Lebanon in the background on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)
    Shay Herz stands on the porch of his house in Mattat, northern Israel, with a view of Lebanon in the background on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)
  • Blossoming flowers at a lookout in Mattat with a view of Lebanon in the distance on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)
    Blossoming flowers at a lookout in Mattat with a view of Lebanon in the distance on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)
  • Karmit Arbel Rumbak walks on a road through the woods of Mattat on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)
    Karmit Arbel Rumbak walks on a road through the woods of Mattat on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

MATTAT – Karmit Arbel Rumbak likened her family’s move back to Mattat in northern Israel to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, who ask, “Who’s been sleeping in my bed?”

After their 15-month evacuation from home during the war with Hezbollah, Rumbak said that in her family’s case, they now ask, “Which animal has been making a nest in our beds?”

Hezbollah rockets and drones damaged some 20 of the houses belonging to the 50 families who live in this rugged hilltop community, only 600 meters (0.37 miles) from the Lebanese border. The rockets shattered a window in Rumbak’s house, allowing all sorts of wildlife to enter.

But Rumbak said they were lucky. In other houses, rats destroyed electric wire systems and urinated inside the walls, leaving an odor that is difficult to remove.

“That’s worse than rockets,” Rumbak said.

Mattat residents were among the 60,000 Israelis evacuated by the government from 32 northern communities during the 14-month war with Hezbollah. Known for their individualism and off-the-beaten-track lifestyle, they have already started to move back home, serving as a symbol of resilience.

Karmit Arbel Rumbak walks on a road through the woods of Mattat on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

The late-November ceasefire has mostly held even as a 60-day deadline passed for Israel and Hezbollah to withdraw their forces from southern Lebanon.

Deadly clashes took place on January 26 when hundreds of Lebanese, including Hezbollah operatives, marched on Israeli soldiers, ignoring warning shots and calls to turn back.

Since then, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend the deadline for Israeli troops to depart southern Lebanon until February 18.

Karmit Arbel Rumbak in a road in Mattat on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

Rumbak said that half of Mattat’s residents have returned after “months in the diaspora.”

Work is underway to clean up the abandoned kindergarten, playground and community center.

During the war, Rumbak’s family moved around the country 10 times, staying some of the time in a dome in a campground where she washed dishes in the rain. She had no doubt she would return to Mattat along with other families whose children attend the Forest School, a unique local elementary school that holds its classes — including math, English, and science — in a nearby forest.

Karmit Arbel Rumbak stands in the Mattat community garden which boasts many rare species of flowers and plants that residents grow to promote biodiversity in Israel. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

“I still don’t lock my door,” said Rumbak, a tour guide who leads groups to visit diverse communities in the Galilee so “they can know who their neighbors are.”

“Druze, Christians, Circassians, Muslims and Jews live together in this area,” Rumbak said. “This is the Israel that I want to see.”

Loneliness and darkness during the war

“After October 7, fear is now in our DNA,” said Mattat resident Shay Herz, referring to the day in 2023 when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 hostages, mostly civilians, into Gaza.

The very next day, on October 8, Hezbollah began attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border almost daily, with the group saying it was doing so to support Gaza amid the war there. The attacks killed 46 civilians, and 80 IDF soldiers and reservists died in cross-border skirmishes.

Troops of the 300th ‘Baram’ Regional Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on January 23, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

There is still concern that Hezbollah was – and still might be – planning an attack on Israel like the devastating October 7 Hamas assault. Both terror groups seek to destroy Israel and see all of its sovereign territory as “occupied.”

During the war, Herz stayed in Mattat, where he has lived since 2004. He built his own house and two tzimmers — bed and breakfast cottages — from hemp materials in the middle of the trees. In one tzimmer, a tree grows right through the second-floor bedroom.

Shay Herz stands on the porch of his house in Mattat, northern Israel, with a view of Lebanon in the background on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

From Herz’s living room, there’s a bird’s eye view of treetops and then, in the not-so-far distance, Lebanon. Herz said he passed many long, lonely nights during the war. Wary of turning on lights, he used the flashlight of his cellphone to cook and read.

“It was very hard for me to be alone without my family,” Herz said. “Now there’s a little more hope and optimism.”

Blossoming flowers at a lookout in Mattat with a view of Lebanon in the distance on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

Enduring the war

The 7,000 residents of the nearby Druze town of Hurfeish, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Lebanese border, were not evacuated and so they simply endured the war by staying put.

These Druze men serve in the IDF, and two soldiers from the close-knit town were killed in the fighting.

Israeli security forces at the scene of a drone attack in the Druze village of Hurfeish, northern Israel, June 5, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

On ordinary days, Hurfeish is a popular spot for visitors and tourists but during the war, its streets were empty, many of its businesses shuttered. The town was often targeted by Hezbollah, including a June 2024 attack with explosive-laden drones that killed one soldier and wounded 10 other people.

“The war affected us not only physically but also emotionally,” said Haifa Amer who owns Hurfeish Delicacies and Jams, a shop on a picturesque street just off the main drag.

“We couldn’t work, we couldn’t leave our houses, our children couldn’t go to school,” Amer said.

Haifa Amer with a photo of her grandfather, Ali Amer, in her shop, Hurfeish Delicacies and Jams in Hurfeishj, inspired by her grandfather on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

People are now starting to visit her shop again, where she gives talks about how she learned to make homemade jams, grind spices and make herbal teas from her grandfather, Ali Amer.

She showed this Times of Israel reporter some of her infusions, including local herbs that she said can help against congestion and  stomachaches, and a blend of ginger and cinnamon that women drink after giving birth.

Haifa Amer stands in Saba Rashrash, a traditional hall that hosts groups and events, which she runs with her partner, Tarek Darbour, in Hurfeish on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

The Druze religion was founded in the 10th century as a divergent branch of Islam. About one million Druze are living mostly in Syria and Lebanon and an estimated 150,000 in Israel. It is a close-knit community.

In her traditional black dress and white veil tightly covering her head and chin, Amer said she’s an independent woman who studies and runs her own business.

“My faith gives me the strength to survive,” Amer said. However, she added that the situation in the north is still uncertain.

“I don’t feel this is the end of the war,” Amer said.

Nassem Faris works in her Nassem Pastry Shop/Cafe in Hurfeish on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

A few blocks away, Nassem Faris, who manages Nassem Pastry Shop/Cafe on the main street with her husband, Monib, spoke about the difficult months of the war.

For more than a year, there were no customers except for soldiers stationed in the area who came to eat Nassem’s homemade desserts in the brightly lit café decorated with her artwork and photographs of Hollywood stars.

“Even when it was dangerous, we stayed up all night for the soldiers,” said Monib, adding that there is an underground bomb shelter where they often retreated during rocket attacks.

Nassem, left, and Monib Faris in Nassem Pastry Shop/Cafe in Hurfeish on January 28, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

This was the “hardest war ever” in Israel, said Monib, a former television journalist who covered many historical events in the country.

“How could the army have let terrorists get into the south?” he mused out loud and didn’t wait for an answer.

“The Druze in Syria and Lebanon are in danger,” Monib said. “The Druze in Israel live in paradise. It’s important for us Druze to feel that the Jewish state stands behind us.”

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