As Israel widens war against Hezbollah, northern town of Shlomi hunkers down |
SHLOMI – Two librarians, Galia Handelman and Lyala Ben-David, opened the Shlomi library on Wednesday afternoon.
That event — on most days unremarkable — was of unfortunate note this week: It occurred a few hours after a Hezbollah-launched twin drone attack killed Sgt. Rotem Yanai, a 20-year-old service conditions NCO in the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion. It also seriously wounded a reservist and left another in moderate condition close to the northern town’s border.
The library’s collection is now housed in a temporary, crowded space in the community center after the building was severely damaged in a Hezbollah missile attack in October 2024, during the first round of the war with the Iranian proxy terror group that began on October 8, 2023. Handelman said the renovated library will reopen in six months “if there’s not another war.”
The Western Galilee town abuts the northern border with Lebanon. At one of its northernmost points, it is a mere 150 meters (490 feet) away.
On ordinary days, the library attracts some 30 adults and children every afternoon, because, said Ben-David, “people who like to read still read.”
However, since schools were closed due to the tense security situation, the librarians doubted the same number would come. Yet they opened the library all the same.
Despite the frequent drone attacks in and around Shlomi, the town was bustling on Wednesday afternoon. Stores were open, restaurants saw a brisk lunchtime business, and people were shopping for groceries at the supermarket.
Yet there was a lingering smell of burnt wood from the surrounding forests, where trees were destroyed by rocket fire, and the dismal reality that the town was still under attack.
Residents remain hyper-vigilant, listening to determine if explosions are incoming or outgoing, aware of the location of the nearest bomb shelter and how many seconds it would take to run there.
“There’s always the sense that there will be a tragedy,” Handelman said.
“We still have fear,” added Ben-David, who grew up in Shlomi. “That never goes away. But my house is here. Where else can I go?”
‘We must neutralize Hezbollah’s capabilities’
Israel has struggled to fend off growing attacks on troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel by Hezbollah’s first-person view drones, which are largely impervious to jamming technology. The terror group has also fired rockets and other types of UAVs, hitting both military and civilian targets. Yanai, killed........