‘Years of work destroyed’ – Hezbollah drone explodes in winery

Itzik Cohen, 75, says he will continue producing wine, despite half of his grapes being destroyed by an explosive UAV launched from Lebanon.

By World Israel News Staff

The owner of a winery that was seriously damaged by an explosive Hezbollah drone has pledged to keep his business going, despite the challenges caused by the ongoing terrorist rocket fire on northern Israel.

Following a massive blaze at the Ramot Naftali Winery sparked by a Hezbollah UAV, which exploded among his grapevines, Itzik Cohen said it was painful to see the damage caused by the terror group to his business.

Around half of the winery’s agricultural fields were burned, destroying grapes, vines, and infastucture.

“It’s sad to see years of work go down the drain,” Cohen told Hebrew-language news outlet Ma’ariv.

Cohen explained that about half of his year’s crop of Syrah grapes had been burned, which means he will only be able to produce about 50% of the bottles he had planned to sell.

He added that some of the grapes, which appeared to been unscathed by the blaze, may in fact be unusable due to damage sustained from being in close proximity to the high temperatures of the flames.

“We will only be able to assess the extent of the damage in the coming days,” he said. “Fortunately, the employees who were present in the vineyard at the time [of the attack] were not injured.”

Cohen refused to evacuate Ramot Naftali, an agricultural community just 4 kilometers from the Lebanese border, with the rest of his family when Hezbollah began launching barrages of rockets, missiles, and UAVs in the days following the October 7th terror onslaught.

“The family pressured me to leave…but I did not agree. It’s a matter of principle – I was born in Ramot Naftali and I don’t intend to leave my home,” Cohen told Ma’ariv.

“Beyond that, I’m already 75 years old, and unfortunately I’m used to living from war to war. I’m no longer afraid,” he continued.

“I hope that there will be a [diplomatic] agreement that will prevent the war [from escalating], and that everyone will be able to return to our winery in peace,” he added.

“We do not give up, we will continue to produce wine and live here on the northern border. This is our home.”