ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Israeli officials say they're getting closer to declaring mission accomplished in Southern Lebanon. That mission is to push the Hezbollah militia away from Israel's border so tens of thousands of Israelis can return home to the area safely. NPR's Daniel Estrin brings us this look at a tense borderland that has changed dramatically during the conflict.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: I climbed to the top of an Israeli military outpost on the Lebanon border just a few months before the conflict began last year.
This is really surreal. You just see a Hezbollah - yellow Hezbollah flag flying right along the Israeli fence surrounding this outpost.
It was June 2023, and Israel said the Hezbollah militia was beefing up its presence on the border. We watched men with binoculars and cameras approach right next to the Israeli outpost. The soldiers said they were Hezbollah.
OK, now we see more guys coming - one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
A few months later, Hamas stormed into southern Israel on October 7. Then Hezbollah opened fire at northern Israel, and Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since. Israelis and Lebanese have fled their homes near the border. Last week I visited the deserted Israeli village of Shtula on Israel's northern border.
Full of shattered glass and debris on the floor.
A man had been sweeping the floor of this home at the beginning of the conflict when a missile launched from a neighboring hill in Lebanon pierced the walls. Israeli military spokesman David Baruch points out the window toward Lebanon.
DAVID BARUCH: They shot right from the - right near the antenna over there on the little hill. Since then, we've gone in. We've pushed them back.
ESTRIN: Israel has had ground troops in Southern Lebanon for the last six weeks.
BARUCH: You've seen clips of the incredible amounts of ammunition that we've taken out, the incredible amounts of infrastructure that was built that I think even we might have been surprised by what we're seeing.
DAVID: We're all about active defense.
ESTRIN: We meet David from the local security squad. The men here won't give their last names because they're in a sensitive role patrolling a military zone, making sure no one from Lebanon storms the border. David's house is next to the border. The neighboring hill in Lebanon, once forested, is now bare.
When the troops entered Lebanon, they cleared out that area.
DAVID: They had to because Hezbollah was tunneling there and stashing a lot of weapons. And we had to clear that because of that threat and the proximity.
ESTRIN: An Israeli TV news report shows what the military has done in a neighboring Lebanese village, Ayta ash-Shaab.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: The TV news anchor embeds with troops, touring the extensive destruction to the village homes, saying nearly every home stored weapons. A soldier hands the journalist a button to press...
(CROSSTALK)
ESTRIN: ...Says, four, three, two, one.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSION BOOMING)
ESTRIN: And a home explodes.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: The news anchor says, "a home with an ammunition storeroom with a line of sight to Israel has been blown up - one less threat over Israel."
MOHAMMED SROUR: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: In an interview with NPR, the Lebanese mayor of that village, Mohammad Srour, denies weapons were stored there. He says all the homes in the village have been destroyed, but residents are determined to return when the war is over.
SROUR: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: In a briefing to reporters and Israeli military officials, he said Israel has destroyed the majority of Hezbollah's drones, a portion of its rockets and missiles and that Israel is very close to the goal of destroying Hezbollah infrastructure about two miles from the Israeli border. Israel is talking to the U.S. about the terms of a cease-fire.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROCKETS EXPLODING)
ESTRIN: Back in Shtula, we hear the distant booms of Hezbollah launching rockets.
BARUCH: So we'll all go over towards the wall over here for a second.
ESTRIN: Hezbollah is firing now.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROCKETS EXPLODING)
ESTRIN: They fly across the border over our heads, and we see flashes of light and puffs of smoke in the air as the rockets are intercepted farther south. This is the change since Israel's ground offensive began in Southern Lebanon. With Hezbollah mostly pushed back from the border, rockets are fired from farther away, allowing a bit more time to run for cover. The head of the Shtula security squad, Shlomi, says that's not enough.
SHLOMI: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: He says, "we have to ensure our residents 100% safety, not 99%." It appears it will take a lot to convince Israelis to return here, even if there is a cease-fire agreement. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Shtula on the Israel-Lebanon border. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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