In the words of the villagers

As the villagers of Marwaheen (a Sunni town right on the border with Israel) burry their dead, the New York Times provides us with a window into local sentiments.

“We kept beseeching them, ‘Stay out! Stay out!’ ”

“They said, ‘We’re all in the same boat together, so deal with it... .’ But why should our children die for their cause?”

“There is no way for us to stop them... . These are not people you can say no to.”

.

The village's troubles began sometime last year when a local resident who had converted to Shiism was appointed the local representative of Hezbollah, residents said. Soon strange things began to occur: strangers came through for late-night meetings; trucks would come and go in the middle of the night; and a suspicious-looking white van was parked at each end of the village.

...

On Thursday, one of the suspicious white vans was sitting next to the town mosque. The van had apparently been hit by an Israeli missile, but the launching platform for a Katyusha rocket could still be seen inside. A rocket that lay next to the van a few days earlier had been removed.

“One man in this village was able to turn all our lives upside down for just a bit of money,”

“We want the army and the United Nations to come in here and protect us... . Israel is our enemy, but the problem is that Hezbollah gave them an excuse to come in and kill our children.”

“That was my dad... . That was my brother, and that is his family. I wish God had taken me with them.”

“Farewell, father... . Farewell, brother, I will miss you.”