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Treasure Trove looks at life in Israel’s northernmost town and the challenges post-Oct. 7
Metula is the northernmost town in Israel, with homes literally a stone’s throw from the border with Lebanon—which is fitting, as the origin of the town’s name is al-Mutallah (Arabic for “the lookout”). It was founded as a Jewish settlement in 1896 when the land was purchased by Baron Edmond de Rothschild.
At the end of the First World War, Metula was in the zone of the French military occupation until the British assumed control in 1924. (From 1920 to 1924, Metula residents could vote in the election for the Lebanese parliament.) The site of Metula determined the northern border of the State of Israel. It is surrounded on three sides by Lebanon, with the closest Lebanese village, Killeh, only 150 meters from its residential areas.
This photograph shows a kindergarten in Metula in the Upper Galilee on a trading card issued in Palestine in 1938. It is part of a series of 200 cards distributed by the Dubek Cigarette Company featuring photographs from the archives of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael (the Jewish National Fund).
Before Oct. 7, 2023, Metula was home to about 2,000 people. The Canada Centre (Merkaz Canada) was one of the town’s major attractions with an Olympic-size ice rink, 10 bowling alleys and other entertainment and sports facilities.
Metula was evacuated after Oct. 7 to protect people from Hezbollah shelling. Residents were scattered all over the country, which has made it nearly impossible to maintain a sense of community. More than 60 percent of its homes have been damaged or completely destroyed by Hezbollah missiles. Streets and municipal infrastructure such as electricity and water have also been damaged, as has the Canada Centre. It will take about four years for the town to be rehabilitated.
At least 30 percent of the population says they will not return, especially families with young children who don’t feel safe enough to live in Israel’s northernmost town.
The recent ceasefire in Lebanon gave the residents of Metula an opportunity to return and visit their homes. Most of them haven’t been home in over a year and did not know the extent of the damage. Even if their houses were not hit directly by a rocket, there is still damage caused by the blasts, rodents that overtook the empty houses, mold and other problems.
Metula is one of the five towns in the Galilee Panhandle that is twinned with communities across Canada under the leadership of Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA. Meytal Novidomsky-Mazeika, a JFC-UIA director in Israel who handles Canada’s relationship with the region, is a longtime resident of Metula—and now an evacuee. She and her young family now face a “very difficult decision,” she says.
“On the one hand, we have only lived in Metula as a family, and we planned on staying there for our entire lives. In addition, we understand the importance of living close to the border. On the other hand, we have small children that we need to protect and give them the safest opportunity to grow up without a constant threat of rockets or, even worse, infiltration. Metula, before this war, was one of the most beautiful places in the whole world. We hope and pray that it can return safely to that in the very near future.”
We also hope that one day soon another photograph of happy children at a Metula kindergarten can be taken.
The post Treasure Trove looks at life in Israel’s northernmost town and the challenges post-Oct. 7 appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.