No End in Sight

AS TENSIONS CONTINUE TO FLARE AT ISRAEL'S BORDERS, NEWSWEEK DISCOVERS HOW LIFE HAS CHANGED IN THE REGION A YEAR ON FROM THE OCTOBER 7 HAMAS ATTACKS

- ELLIE COOK

JUST OFF THE MAIN ROAD, IN SIGHT OF southern Lebanon, builders tap away at concrete blocks of a half-built house, the sun merciless as it beats down. Equipped with its very own bomb shelter, a young family was preparing to move into the home in Kibbutz Matzuva, northern Israel.

But Ishay Efroni, head of security for the regional council covering the kibbutz, told Newsweek: "When they move here, I'm not going to sleep." A few months ago, Efroni had given the builders permission to resume work on the property, just a mile-and-a-half from the Lebanese border. The family should move in within two months, Efroni said when Newsweek visited in mid-September. Although deeply worried for their safety, Efroni said, he is anxious to get residents back to the north after nearly a year away from their homes. Weeks after Newsweek's tour of the kibbutz, the prospect of them unpacking their belongings in northern Israel seems more distant than ever.

Matzuva and its roughly 1,000 residents were evacuated shortly after Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its October 7 attacks, killing around 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages. Israel then launched its war in Gaza, vowing to eradicate Hamas. The bombardment and ground operations have devastated Gaza. Hamas-run health authorities there say over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's campaign, and the international community has sounded alarm bells over humanitarian emergencies facing displaced Gazans.

Israel's military has also exchanged fire with Lebanon-based, Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah almost the entire time, with Hezbollah saying it was acting in solidarity with Hamas. Conflict has intensified in recent weeks, with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and other senior officials killed in strikes by Israel, which is also believed to be behind the exploding pager and walkie-talkie attacks that killed at least 37 people and injured more than 3,000.