As tensions flare on Israel-Lebanon border, war-torn communities struggle to rebuild

METULA, Israel (AP) — Ilan Rosenfeld walks through the burnt-out shell of his former business, stepping over crackling pieces of clay plates that used to line his cafe and past metal scraps of Hezbollah rockets littering the rubble.

It’s all that’s left for him in this small, war-ravaged town — the northernmost in Israel, surrounded on three sides by Lebanon.

“Everything I had, everything I saved, everything I built – it’s all burned,” he said as he scanned the damage of the business he'd run for 40 years in Metula, which has long been at the crosshairs of flare-ups along the volatile border. “Every day I wake up, and all I have left are tears.”

Rosenfeld was among tens of thousands of people forced from their homes when war broke out between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in October 2023, following Hamas' attack in southern Israel.

One year into a shaky ceasefire on this heavily fortified border, Israel’s government says most of those displaced have returned to their homes in the north, where they struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives. Others are reluctant to come back, as Israel has stepped up attacks in Lebanon. Communities like Metula that were in the center of the conflict remain little more than ghost towns, most still half empty, with many people skeptical of their government's promise to keep them safe.

The Israeli strikes into southern Lebanon continue, with several a week. Hezbollah has refused to completely disarm until Israel fully withdraws.

“The security situation is starting to deteriorate again,” Rosenfeld said, looking at the bomb shelters on a list recently distributed by the local government. “And where am I in all this? I can barely survive the day-to-day.”

Metula residents were among the 64,000 forced to evacuate and relocate to hotels and temporary homes farther south when Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel in fall 2023. Months of fighting escalated into a full-fledged war. In September 2024, Israel killed 12 and wounded over 3,000 in a coordinated pager attack and killed Hezbollah's leader in a strike. A month later, the ceasefire deal was reached.

Today, residents have trickled back to the sprawling apple orchards and mountains as Israel’s government encourages them to go home. Officials say about 55,000 people have returned.

In Metula, just over half of the 1,700 residents are back. Yet the streets remain largely empty.

Many hoped to rebuild their lives, but they returned to find 60% of the town’s homes damaged from rocket fire, according to the local government. Others were infested and destroyed by rats. The economy — largely based on tourism and agriculture — has been devastated.

With many people, especially young families, reluctant to return, some business owners have turned to workers from Thailand to fill labor shortages.

“Most of the people who worked with us before the war didn’t come back,” said Jacob Katz, who runs a produce business. “We’ve lost a lot … and we can’t read the future.”

Rosenfeld's modest cafe and farm were perched on a hill overlooking the border fence. Tourists would come to eat, camp in buses converted to rooms and enjoy the view. But now, the towns on the Lebanese side of the border have been reduced to rubble by Israel's attacks.

Without a home, Rosenfeld sleeps in a small shelter next to the scraps that remain of his business. He has little more than a tent, a refrigerator and a few chairs. Just a stone’s throw away sit a military watch tower and two armored vehicles.

Israel’s government says it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in border recovery efforts, that it plans to invest more in economic revival, and that residents can apply for support funds.

But Rosenfeld said that despite his requests for government assistance, he hasn’t received any aid.

He’s among residents and business leaders who say they feel forgotten. Most say they need more resources to rebuild.

“The Israeli government needs to do much more for us,” Metula deputy mayor Avi Nadiv said. “The residents who live on Israel’s northern border, we are Israel’s human shield.”

A spokesman for Zeev Elkin, a Cabinet minister overseeing reconstruction in the north, said the local government has not used funds allocated to reconstruction “due to narrow political and oppositional considerations.”

As Hezbollah refuses to disarm, Israel has accused Lebanon’s government of not doing enough to neutralize the militant group. The Lebanese army says it has boosted its presence over the border area to strengthen the ceasefire.

Israel continues to bombard what it says are Hezbollah sites. Much of southern Lebanon has been left in ruins.

The strikes are among a number of offensives Israel has launched – including those in Gaza, the West Bank and Syria – in what it calls an effort to crack down on militant groups.

The Lebanon strikes have killed at least 127 civilians, including children, since the ceasefire took hold, according to a November U.N. report. U.N. special rapporteur Morris Tidball-Binz said the strikes amount to “war crimes.” Israel has maintained that it has the right to continue strikes to protect itself from Hezbollah rearming and accuses the group of using civilians as human shields.

Last week, Israel struck the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, killing Hezbollah’s top military commander. The group, still weakened by last year’s fighting, has not responded.

In Metula, signs of the tensions are everywhere. The local government's list of public shelters reads: “Metula is prepared for an emergency.”

Explosions and gunfire periodically echo from military drills while farmer Levav Weinberg plays with his 10-, 8- and 6-year-old children. Weinberg, a military reservist, said his kids are too scared to ride their bikes on the street.

Weinberg, 44, and his family returned in July, skeptical of the government’s promise that everything was returning to normal but eager to keep their business alive.

Metula’s government continues to encourage people to come back, telling residents the region is safe and the economy will bounce back.

“Today we feel the winds of, let’s call it, the winds of war – but it doesn’t deter us,” Nadiv said. “Coming back to Metula – there’s nothing to be afraid of. ... The army is here. The houses are fortified. Metula is prepared for anything.”

Weinberg isn’t so sure. In recent weeks, he and his wife have considered leaving once again.

“The army cannot protect me and my family,” Weinberg said. “You sacrifice your family to live in Metula these days. It’s not a perfect life, it’s not that easy, and at some point your kids pay the price.”

U.N vehicles drive past buildings destroyed by Israel's air and ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as seen from Israel's northernmost town of Metula, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Avi Nadiv, deputy mayor, next to a home that's under renovation in Israel's northernmost town of Metula, pressed up against the Lebanon border, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Ilan Rosenfeld holds a piece of a rocket fired by Hezbollah in his burnt-out business in Israel's northernmost town of Metula, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Ilan Rosenfeld walks through the burnt-out shell of his business in Israel's northernmost town of Metula, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israel's military armored personnel carriers sit in Israel's northernmost town of Metula, on the Lebanon border, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Holi, widely known as the Hindu festival of colors, is a joyful annual celebration at the advent of spring with cultural and religious significance.

Typically observed in March in India, Nepal, other South Asian countries and across the diaspora, the festival celebrates love and signifies a time of rebirth and rejuvenation — a time to embrace the positive and let go of negative energy.

For one of Holi’s most well-known traditions, celebrants clad in all white, come out to the street and throw colored powders at each other, leaving behind a kaleidoscope of pigments and joy. Festivities with music, dancing and food ensue.

Holi is celebrated at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, on the last full moon day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar month of Falgun. The date of the festival varies depending on the lunar cycle. Typically, it falls in March, and will be celebrated this year on March 4.

In many parts of India, people light large bonfires the night before the festival to signify the destruction of evil and victory of good. Different mythological tales point to the reason behind this observance.

In one story, the king, Hiranyakashipu, ordered everyone in his kingdom to worship him and was irked when his own son Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, disobeyed his command. So, he ordered his sister Holika who was immune from fire to take the child, Prahlad, into a bonfire while holding him in her lap. However, when the pyre was lit, the boy’s devotion to Lord Vishnu protected him and left him unscathed while Holika, despite her immunity, burned to death.

In another southern India tradition, the event is known as Kama Dahanam to commemorate Lord Shiva burning Kamadeva, the god of love, with his third eye. It symbolizes the destruction of lust and other earthly attachments for a higher spiritual purpose, preceding the joy of colors.

Some also consider Holi a reference to Lord Krishna and his love for his beloved, Radha, and his cosmic play with his consorts and devotees called “gopikas,” who are also revered for their unconditional love and devotion to Krishna.

On the day of Holi, entire streets and towns are filled with people who throw colored powder in the air. Some fling balloons filled with colored water from rooftops and others use squirt guns. For one day, it’s all fair game. Cries of “Holi hai!” which means “It’s Holi!” can be heard on the streets. Holi has also been romanticized and popularized over the decades in Bollywood films.

The colors seen during Holi symbolize different things. Blue represents the color of Lord Krishna’s skin while green symbolizes spring and rebirth. Red symbolizes marriage or fertility while both red and yellow — commonly used in ritual and ceremony — symbolize auspiciousness.

An array of special foods are part of the celebration, with the most popular food during Holi being “gujia,” a flaky, deep-fried sweet pastry stuffed with milk curd, nuts and dried fruits. Holi parties also feature “thandai,” a cold drink prepared with a mix of almonds, fennel seeds, rose petals, poppy seeds, saffron, milk and sugar.

In North America and in any country with a Hindu population, people of Indian descent celebrate Holi with Bollywood parties and parades, as well as a host of public and private gatherings. Several U.S. temples will observe Holika Dahan this year on Feb. 2 or Feb. 3 to coincide with the full moon day and a total lunar eclipse, which is rare.

It is also common for Hindu temples and community centers in the U.S to organize cultural programs, friendly cricket matches and other festivities around the holiday.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Nepalese people throw colored powders on each other as they celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors at Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Indians perform rituals around a bonfire during Holi festival celebrations at Palaj village near Gandhinagar, India, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Third Gender members of Kinnar Akhara play with colored powder during celebrations marking Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Prayagraj, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A child with cerebral palsy attends Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, at an event organized by the Trishla Foundation in Prayagraj, India,Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)