Israelis from Kibbutz Yiftah, which is 1 mile from the Lebanese border have been living in a hotel near the Sea of Galilee since the Hamas assault on Oct. 7. They have no idea when they will be able to return home. Daniella Porat Penso wanted to quickly make a drive home despite the army’s refusal that she does so. "We are much closer to the border than most of the kibbutzim in the Gaza Strip. And it's scary. "We need to be sure that we're safe in order to come and live here again in our homes. This is our request for our government, from our army. Please make us safe," she added. Israel is on high alert for an escalation with Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia after a strike on Tuesday in the Lebanese capital killed Saleh Arouri, the most senior Hamas member slain since the war in Gaza erupted nearly three months ago. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had previously warned that his group would retaliate against any assassinations Israel carried out in Lebanon, whether of Hezbollah figures or those from allied groups like Hamas. In a speech Wednesday evening, Nasrallah promised revenge, warning that “this dangerous crime” of Arouri’s killing will not go “without response and without punishment," although he did not say when or in what form the retaliation would come. Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since the war in Gaza began. But Nasrallah has appeared reluctant to escalate it further, perhaps fearing a repeat of the monthlong 2006 war, when Israel heavily bombed Beirut and southern Lebanon. At the same time, Hezbollah also faces pressure to show support for its ally Hamas. Members of the small community of Yiftah, around 600 people, are mostly together at the Nof Ginosar hotel. They are among around 200,000 internally displaced Israelis in northern and southern Israel. But they say their time at Nof Ginosar is getting long for a stay at a hotel room. Meital Frishman Yogev, who is from Yiftah, is there with her family. "Every morning I wake up and I'm not sure how things are going to to go in the country with the war. And I feel like I have no control on life," she lamented. Her husband was serving as a reservist since Oct. 7, but has now returned.