Early last week, dozens of Israeli military vehicles gathered 2km from the border with Lebanon but disappeared the next day.
The only evidence of their presence was a few empty ammunition crates and tank tracks on the ground.
It is unclear where the unit was moving, but with hundreds of rockets fired by Hezbollah into this area of Israel over the past three days, it would not be safe for the convoy to stay in the same location for long.
Hezbollah began firing shells into northern Israel a day after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year.
Since then, some 60,000 civilians have evacuated towns and villages near the border.
The main goal of Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah so far has been to allow all northerners to return home after more than a year. The campaign began last month and has expanded into a ground offensive in the past few days. The attacks have intensified over the past three weeks, killing nearly 2,000 people in Lebanon and injuring 8,000.
Sky News reporters drove closer to the border. Standing a few hundred metres from the Israel-Lebanon border, they could hear distant gunfire as Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah inside Lebanese territory. There was also the boom of artillery shells and the buzz of drones overhead.
Black burn marks on the ground around where the reporter stood were evidence of several Hezbollah rocket attacks in recent days.
The Sky News team travelled to Kibbutz Dan, just 2km from the border. Famous for its salmon farming, it was once a vibrant community of around 700 people. Today, however, there are only around 150 residents. Among them are Mr Shaul, 80, and Mrs Bilha Givoni, 79. Mr Shaul has lived here all his life, including during the 1948 war that followed the creation of Israel.
The elderly couple’s house is built next to an orchard. The facade is decorated with lucky charms, as well as decorations made from metal blocks from an Israeli air defense system and shrapnel from a Hezbollah rocket.
Mr. Shaul said he supported Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah inside Lebanon, but he and his wife doubted whether it would bring back all the families evacuated from northern Israel.
“Home is still home, but when people are afraid, it is impossible to dispel that fear. This is what has happened to many people,” Ms. Bilha shared.
