‘This will not break our spirit’: Northern Israeli communities pull together after rocket barrage

Among the homes hit was that of a Kiryat Shmona evacuee, Itai Abekasis, who relocated to his parents’ house in Moreshet.

By Sveta Listratov, TPS

Despite the damage caused by Sunday morning’s Hezbollah rocket barrage, Israeli residents of Kiryat Bialik and Moreshet said they refused to be broken by the attacks.

“Despite the situation, people were incredibly composed,” Moreshet resident Ephraim Winkler told The Press Service of Israel. Winkler also heads the Karmiel-Misgav branch of United Hatzalah, a volunteer-based emergency medical response service.

“I was on my way driving to work when the rockets hit. I stopped on the road and looked back to see smoke coming up from the direction of Moreshet, so I went back calling up my team to join me. We quickly split forces to respond—some went to the lower street, and I headed to the upper street where homes were hit,” he said.

His team evacuated families, including an elderly widower and a couple whose house was directly impacted.

“There was a huge fire—three cars and two houses caught fire. We worked to contain it to prevent further damage,” Winkler recalled to TPS-IL.

Winkler, who also serves as part of the Hatzalah’s mental health resilience team, stressed how calm the residents remained.

“Neighbors quickly opened their bomb shelters and made sure everyone was safe. You could see their strength; there were no signs of panic, just solidarity and cooperation. Imagine that this happened early in the morning, most people woke up to the chaos,” he said.

Among the homes hit was that of a Kiryat Shmona evacuee, Itai Abekasis, who relocated to his parents’ house in Moreshet. Itai, who is on reserve duty at the northern border, was home for Shabbat.

“My family was miraculously saved by following safety protocols. They rushed to the shelter just seconds before the rocket hit, shattering windows and causing extensive damage to the house,” Abecassis told TPS-IL.

A video clip Abekasis shared on social media showed a room in disarray, a baby crib near a bed, with shattered windows, pieces of glass covering the floor.

“Look at that, that’s where we were sleeping. Look at all the glass!” he said in the clip.

Together with other northern communities’ evacuees, who spent the year away from their own homes, he stresses again the necessity of winning this war against Hezbollah.

“The government of Israel and the [army] must continue to ensure the security of all residents of the north and do everything necessary to dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities,” the “Fighting for the North” headquarters said to TPS-IL.

In Kiryat Bialik, the morning has also started with violent noise of explosions, with interceptors taking down incoming rockets, but falling debris still caused damage to several homes.

Mayor Eli Dukorsky told TPS-IL, “We woke up to a difficult morning in Kiryat Bialik. The interceptors did their job, but shrapnel from the missiles damaged residential buildings. Fortunately, only three people sustained minor injuries. Our municipal and security forces handled the situation effectively, restoring calm to the city.”

Dukorsky shared an image of one of the damaged homes draped in Israeli flags, posting on social media.

“They will not break our spirit. The house has been covered with the flags of Israel and our city,” Dukorsky wrote on social media. Hundreds of residents responded with comments of resilience and pride.

This spirit of determination was echoed by the Moreshet community, where volunteers and emergency teams worked hand in hand in the attack’s aftermath.

“Everyone here is strong,” Winkler insisted. “We’ve had to deal with tragedy before. Three of the sons of our community have fallen in the war, one of them just last week, very recently. But it doesn’t break us, we stay prepared and we stay united.”

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have soared in recent days.

On Monday, the Security Cabinet updated its official war goals to include the secure return of 60,000 evacuated northern residents to their homes.

On Tuesday, pagers belonging to Hezbollah operatives exploded across Lebanon and in Syria, injuring thousands. More Hezbollah figures were injured in a second wave of explosions on Wednesday.

The Iran-backed terror group said 32 of its people were killed, a number that has not been independently verified. Israeli officials believe the death toll is higher than Hezbollah has indicated.

The blasts are widely attributed to Israel, but Jerusalem has not commented.

On Thursday, two Israeli soldiers were killed along the northern border in Hezbollah missile and drone attacks.

An Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday killed 16 senior terrorists, eliminating most of the elite Radwan Force’s chain of command.

Northern residents were forced to evacuate their homes when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones in October. The terror group has launched more than 6,700 rockets and drones, killing 26 civilians and 22 soldiers on the Israeli side.

Hezbollah leaders have said they will continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes, which Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah reiterated in a speech on Thursday night.

Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

HezbollahKiryat BialikRocket Attack