SHTULA –  On a recent afternoon at On The Border Café, Ori Eliyahu made a cup of strong espresso for a customer and then gazed out at the cement barricade known as the Talking Walls. Eliyahu, the 28th of 51 grandchildren of Salah Eliyahu, one of the founders of this agricultural community, pointed out the colorful murals that are just inside the border with Lebanon.

“People are still hesitant to come here even though there’s a ceasefire,” Eliyahu, 30, said. “We hope the situation will get better so that people will come back.”

Despite the danger of missiles from the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, the government began a social media and television campaign on Sunday, advertising new homes being built in 28 frontline communities to encourage more people to live in Shtula and other places in northern Israel.

The campaign is part of an NIS 18 billion ($6 billion) allocation for communities up to nine kilometers (six miles) from the Lebanese border, including Shtula. The project, run by Tnufa LeTsafon (Northern Momentum, in Hebrew), aims to accelerate the construction of new neighborhoods and improve transportation, employment, and health services in the area that residents dub “the periphery of the periphery.”

In Shtula, 15 prefabricated houses, known in Hebrew as caravillas, with specially built rooms that protect against rocket and missile attacks, will be offered to families to rent on a trial basis. The rental price, set by the government, has not yet been announced.

“We have the resources, we’re working hard to help the residents, and our goal is to double or even triple the population in Shtula in the next few years,” David Cohen, the director general of Ma’ale Yosef Regional Council, told The Times of Israel. Shtula is one of 22 communities in the council’s jurisdiction in the Upper and Western Galilee. “That’s the answer to terrorists.”

Sharon Hen, the village’s community manager, spoke to The Times of Israel in her newly renovated office. The building, in the center of the village under tall trees, had been struck by Hezbollah rocket fire during the war.

“We have a big task ahead of us to rebuild Shtula… In Shtula now, there are exactly 197 people,” Hen said. “I make sure to count everyone.”

Some residents have still not returned to Shtula, Hen said. However, 12 new families have recently moved in.

“They will face challenges living in a small community........

© The Times of Israel