METULA, Israel — Even amid a ceasefire, the sounds of war still reverberate through the countryside along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Few places have felt the ripple effects of the Iran war and the brunt of Hezbollah more than Metula, the northernmost community in Israel. Surrounded by Lebanon on three sides, the scenic town is uniquely exposed to attacks by the Iranian proxy group.

Until recently, an American flag flew beside Israeli flags in Metula’s town center. Then Mayor David Azoulay took it down.

He is that offended by President Donald Trump.

“I have massive gratitude to him because he really seriously helped release all the hostages” held by Hamas, Azoulay told MS NOW. “And he supports Israel in a lot of ways.”

“But we are not a banana republic, let us vote for whoever we want and don’t interfere with that,” Azoulay said.

Azoulay said Trump’s failure to finish the job in Iran and interference in Israeli elections with his eleventh-hour endorsement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu soured him on the American president.

“You have to understand that this regime in Iran sends its tentacles all over: Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis,” Azoulay said. “I fully support the fact that this regime has to go.”

“We started this campaign together and regrettably, Trump is talking a lot and doing less,” he said.

Both Trump and Netanyahu have threatened to escalate attacks on Iran in recent weeks, with the U.S. leader hesitant to take action that could negatively impact his political party in the midterms.

After the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, most of Metula’s 2,500 residents were evacuated amid frequent missile and rocket bombardment from Hezbollah in northern Israel. Ninety percent of its homes have been destroyed or damaged.

In March, following the joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran, the Israeli military invaded Lebanon and pushed the threat from Hezbollah away from the border — causing extensive damage to infrastructure and civilian casualties in Lebanon in the process.

Over the past year and a half, the locals of Metula have returned, bringing life — and hope — back to the community. But the longer the Iran war drags on and U.S.-led peace talks between Israel and Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah remain precarious, the longer it will take for Metula to fully rebuild.

“We are still at war. … We try to lead a normal town life,” Azoulay said just steps away from a bustling cafe filled with families and kids running around.

Hagai Rosenbaum, a fruit farmer whose family has lived in Metula for generations, said the Netanyahu government should be doing more to help, especially when it comes to clearing remnants of rockets and unexploded ordnance from his farmland.

“A lot of cluster bombs were falling in Metula, and actually, I’m afraid,” he said, standing in his kiwi orchard amid peak harvest season. “Every time I walk, I look down more than before.”

Rosenbaum said locals encounter debris and parts of Iranian rockets “all the time.” Minutes later, he pointed out a mangled, charred piece of an exploded projectile.

As he walked through the rows of kiwi plants, the sound of a mortar round cracked throughout the valley.

“This is normal,” Rosenbaum reassured reporters with him, adding the jarring sound came from the Israeli military firing toward Lebanon, where destroyed structures were visible on the distant hills surrounding the harvest.

The post No love for Trump or Netanyahu in Israeli town battered by Hezbollah appeared first on MS NOW.

From MS Now.