Israelis divided over ongoing truce in Lebanon

In Israel, residents are divided over the ceasefire which began Wednesday between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.

The division is clear. Within the Jewish state, the vast majority of Israelis hope that the ceasefire between the Jewish state and Hezbollah, which came into force on Wednesday November 27, will hold. But there are also the inhabitants of the north of the country who have suffered the conflict with the regular sending of missiles, rockets and drones by the Shiite militia. Most of them are against it.

Until Wednesday morning, Micki lived to the rhythm of the alerts. This resident of Kiryat Shmona, very close to the border with Lebanon, has even become accustomed for almost 14 months to the constant sound of fighter planes flying over. For a little over 24 hours, he has been enjoying a bit of a return to calm before, he thinks, the fighting resumes. “I don't believe in this agreementsays Micki, because people from southern Lebanon, who are mostly Shiites, are allowed to return. It doesn't make us feel safe.”

Two hundred and fifty kilometers further south, in Jerusalem, the alerts are much less regular and the threat of rockets, drones and missiles more diffuse. Many residents are concerned about the mobilization of reservists like Shahar. This Israeli has family members serving in the army. “I am happy with this ceasefiresays Shahar. I don't want my nephew and my cousin to go to Lebanon. My brother and many other Israelis are glued to their phones waiting for bad news about their child. You know what I mean.”

The priority for Shahar, as for many Israelis, is the hostages in Gaza, and the focus now, he says, “is to bring them home”.