Northern Kibbutz Continues Postwar Growth With 22 New Families

Kibbutz Yiftah is preparing to welcome 22 new families, further boosting the northern border community’s population after residents spent 16 months evacuated during the conflict with Hezbollah.

The kibbutz, located less than a mile from Lebanon, saw 10 families leave during and after the evacuation. However, more than twice that number are now preparing to move in, according to a JNS report published Tuesday. Construction is already underway on homes for the incoming families.

Yiftah’s growth comes despite extensive damage to the surrounding area. Rockets fired from Lebanon sparked fires that burned approximately 1,300 acres and destroyed much of the kibbutz’s nectarine orchards. The flames reached the edge of the community before volunteers brought them under control.

Across the border sits the Lebanese village of Blida, which Israel identified as a Hezbollah stronghold during the war. Israeli forces destroyed much of the terror group’s infrastructure in the area. Annat Zisovich-Charrit, who heads civilian security at Yiftah, told JNS that the contrast between construction in the kibbutz and destruction across the border represents the community’s recovery.

Yiftah’s rebound reflects a broader recovery across northern Israel. Around 60,000 residents were evacuated from communities near the Lebanese border after Hezbollah began attacking Israel in October 2023. By September 2025, approximately 87% of northern evacuees had returned home, according to government figures cited by the Knesset Research and Information Center.

Still, recovery has varied considerably between communities. Kiryat Shmona has struggled to recover its full population, while the Kibbutz Movement estimates that northern kibbutzim collectively saw their populations decline by around 12%. Yiftah, by contrast, was already among at least 10 evacuated communities that had surpassed their prewar populations by September 2025.

The government has approved roughly 13 billion shekels for the rehabilitation, development, and protection of northern communities. In Yiftah, that effort includes adding fortified safe rooms to older homes that were built without them.

Despite concerns that Hezbollah could eventually rebuild its capabilities along the border, Zisovich-Charrit told JNS that her family has no intention of evacuating again.

“Come what may, we are not leaving this place again,” she said.