Israelis displaced by fighting with Hezbollah want to go home as conflict edges closer to full-scale war
![An Israeli firefighter puts out flames in a field after rockets launched from southern Lebanon landed on the outskirts of Kiryat Shmona, on June 4, 2024. Since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, the Lebanese-Israeli border area has witnessed near-daily exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Iran-backed group Hezbollah based in Lebanon. A man wearing firefighting gear uses a hose to spray water on a pile of burning, smoking rubble in a field.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7245265.1719268888!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/firefighter-kiryat-shmona.jpg)
Tens of thousands of people in both Israel and Lebanon have been displaced by the volley of cross-border missiles launched by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and by the Israeli Defence Forces in Israel in a conflict that observers say has long been threatening to escalate into a full-blown war.