A man in a white shirt emblazoned with images of orange basketballs held an M-16 rifle as he tried to balance a large cup of coffee and his car keys in his other hand. He was trying to open the door to his silver Renault Fluence, standing by one of the few coffee shops that remain open near Kiryat Shmona. The North of Israel, near Kiryat Shmona, felt deserted.
There were cars on the road, but most were people going to essential work – agriculture, or soldiers and police passing through. Inside Kiryat Shmona, the city was abandoned, as it has been for seven months now. There were a few army jeeps and ambulances around, and one row of shops was open, selling baked goods, falafel, and shwarma.
Other than that, there was no one around. On one street, two cars were burned crisp from a projectile . The playgrounds were empty; it was hard to imagine the sound of children here.
Nearby, on the roads near the Jordan River, paths that would normally be bloated with tourists at this time of year, stood empty, with no one at the picnic tables. Concrete shelters have sprung up at bus stops in recent months to provide shelter for people who find themselves on the road, should a siren catch them in the middle. Near Kfar Blum, an area often targeted in the Hula Valley, there were a few agricultural workers in the fields with tractors.
The area was tranquil and peaceful, mostly because there are very few people here, on roads that otherwise would have more cars and civilians. To get to the H.
