Fatma Gate, which is known as the Good Barrier Gate, has become a symbol of Lebanese entrance and exit • We returned to the structures and discovered the neglect that created a spectacular photography project • View 

For twenty years, the Fatma Gate, better known as the Good Gate Gate, has been abandoned and neglected. Tens of thousands of soldiers and residents of southern Lebanon passed through the gates and through the buildings for many years, until May 24, 2000, the last time the gates were locked. 

Fatma Gate: A glimpse of a post abandoned 20 years ago // Reporter: Hanan Greenwood // Photo: Ofer Freiman / frames productions // Edit: Eden Barel

"On this square, the soldiers would board the vehicles on their way to Lebanon, and while waiting they would sit with Aunt Mary," recalls Colonel (res.) Raviv Nir, former commander of 769th Brigade (Hiramam Brigade). Of Miriam Feiner, who died in 2012 after contracting cancer. "Parents would send her packages and the soldiers who would go to the posts would collect them. They would write about the package "Aunt Mary Metula, next to I, Soldier Pumpkin," smiles nostalgically. 

A cruise through the neglected post is somewhat reminiscent of a visit to Chernobyl, which has frozen. In one corner of the room stands "Bruce" old ammunition, the signs on the kitchen wall still have a "meaty area" and "a milky area." A huge billboard outside directs trucks to a customs post, and you can imagine the military police investigating whether a soldier smuggled cigarettes into Israel. 

For the first time in 20 years, the Fatma Gate area and the good fence for visitors has been opened today, and the area will remain open for three weeks. On the occasion of the historic event, Metula carried out spell works of the station in the local council. Just before the works, the Israel Today team documented the history that had frozen in time.

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"The place has remained as a closed military zone since the withdrawal," says Metula Council President David Azulay. "As soon as the army approved the approach of the travelers to the place, we started to take. We brought a tractor to expose this point which is part of the history of the IDF meeting in Lebanon. "Our goal is that anyone who served in Lebanon during the decades that the crossing was open can come with his family and tell them about the place."

Behind the rusty yellow gate that belongs to the pages of history can be seen the new wall built in recent years. Admittedly, the post has been abandoned, but security at the site includes the best technology and human power. "Although the post was frozen, the mission remains to protect the northern communities," says Lieutenant-Colonel Brigadier Brigade 769, Lieutenant Colonel Eyal Bazini. "The ground is changing, the enemy and threats are present and so are we developing and strengthening. The period of the Security Strip reminds us well of why we are here.