What it’s like living next door to Hezbollah

At 6.30 am on October 7, I began receiving hundreds of messages as Hamas began its invasion of Israel. We knew immediately that where we lived, nine kilometres from the Lebanese border, could soon be unsafe if Hezbollah joined in on the attack. 

I immediately jumped out of bed and told my husband, ‘There’s a war, I’m going to prepare the shelter.’ I went to the kitchen and started tidying up the leftovers from yesterday’s holiday meal. My husband joined me and we filled bottles of water. I made sure the phone in the shelter worked, that there was a computer, charger, torches and that the iron shelter door could close. We removed any pictures or glassware that might break in case a rocket hit the house.  

But as we found out more and more about what Hamas was doing, we realised that all this was not enough. If thousands of terrorists invaded, our house shelter would become a death-trap.