An Israeli farmer whose son was killed by a Lebanese rocket is working to restore an orchard By Reuters
Written by Joyce Zhou
METULA, Israel (Reuters) – Five weeks ago, Moshe Weinstein found the bodies of his son Omer and four farm workers killed by a Hezbollah rocket, their bodies lying in the apple orchard he had been cultivating for years.
Weinstein, 75, is back working his land, taking advantage of a cease-fire agreement signed last week between Israel and Hezbollah aimed at restoring peace on both sides of the border. But fear will haunt him all his days.
“I saw the worst thing I could see,” he told Reuters.
He was elsewhere on the farm when sirens went off on October 31, warning of fire from Lebanon. Soon after an explosion shook the air. When he got to his son there was nothing to be done. Four Thai workers were also killed instantly and five survived the explosion.
“They weren’t supposed to be here to harvest that day,” he said, recalling how Omer put his team in the orchard because a customer had asked for the delicious Pink Lady apples that grew on that part of his farm.
“The strike was at the well, the tractor is standing here with the cart,” he said while living at the scene.
Weinstein’s family business is near Metula, Israel’s northernmost town, which has been repeatedly targeted by Hezbollah rockets over the past 14 months as part of the Iran-backed group’s campaign to support its Palestinian ally Hamas.
Hezbollah began patrolling Israel and crossed the border in cooperation with Hamas a day after the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023 in Israeli communities which caused the war in the Gaza Strip.
In September of this year, Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah, launching air and ground attacks and saying it was necessary to disarm Hezbollah so that tens of thousands of Israelis could return safely to northern communities.
“We are the ones holding the borders, which are 100 meters away, we are the last tree on the border,” said Weinstein.
Like many locals, the Weinsteins leave home, but are allowed to return during the day to tend to their crops, taking precautions to minimize risk such as never traveling together in the same car.
“We were able to work, we were allowed to enter some areas and not others,” he said. “I didn’t think there was a 1% chance that one of us would get hurt, but really, Omer paid the price.”
Hezbollah strikes have killed 45 civilians in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in the past 14 months. At least 3,768 people were killed when Israel retaliated in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between Hezbollah fighters and civilians.
Israel and Hezbollah finally agreed last week to a deal aimed at establishing a lasting peace after decades of conflict. But Weinstein, who has lived through three major conflicts in Lebanon, is skeptical that the guns would have been silent.
“For me the ceasefire is like Russian roulette,” he said.
