South of Israel On Red Alert

by Jeremy Last - Wednesday 31st December 2008


There was a time when southern Israel was considered a quiet, relaxing, out of the way place to live.

However, life for the residents of the south changed dramatically this week as Kassam and Grad rockets rained down on cities such as Ashkelon and Ashdod, killing several people, injuring dozens and destroying many properties.

Top stories

email this page to a friend print this page email the editor buy this content Bookmark and Share
It was no longer the relatively small town of Sderot which bore the brunt of the attacks, but major cities within 40 kilometres of the Gaza Strip were paralysed as Hamas launched tens of missiles at Israel each day. Residents were told to stay at home as cinemas and other entertainment centres were kept closed.

On Tuesday, children were supposed to return to school after the Chanukah break, but lessons were cancelled for fear of a rocket hitting an educational facility. And Ashkelon's Barzilai hospital moved its essential departments into an underground bomb shelter.

Oriya Yehoshua has only lived in her beachside Ashkelon home for a month since she moved there with her husband Sasson and their six-month old twins. And while she said she does not regret their decision to move down from Jerusalem she admitted life has become extremely difficult over the past week.

"I'm not so scared because we can run quickly when we hear the sirens, but it's harder with the babies. I'm really only worried for the children," she told the Jewish News on Tuesday.

Yehoshua described how her neighbours have become too nervous to live life as normal. "It's very quiet here," she said. "Next to my house there is a park which is usually full of children, but since Saturday there has been no one there. There has just been quiet.

"On Sunday, I went to the local shopping centre to buy something from the chemists but everything was closed. Everything is closing early and people aren't going out."

Although she supports the IDF action in Gaza, Yehoshua said she did not know if the campaign will really put an end to the rocket fire.

One Kassam landed only a few hundred metres from her home, with the explosion on the beach waking her and the family up at about 7.30 am.

"I don't know how the army can succeed because Hamas are still succeeding in firing rockets. It seems impossible to stop the rockets," she said.

On Monday, the Palestinians showed the increased range of their Grad rockets, with one hitting a bus stop in Ashdod, killing a woman who was trying to take cover from the attack.

Haddas Herzog, who lives in Ashdod, was waiting at that very bus stop 90 minutes before it was hit. "It's frightening when you watch TV and see that the exact place where you were standing just an hour and a half earlier had been attacked. You start thinking what might have happened if you were there," the 22-year-old said, adding that even during periods of quiet when rockets are not falling "you can feel stress in the air".

"As well as those who suffer physical injuries from the rocket attacks," she said, "many others are affected psychologically. Life goes on, people go to work, etc. but there is tension.

"I slept very lightly, every noise makes you wake up. We can do nothing, this is the price we need to pay in order to bring silence to the area. I believe in the IDF and support every act it does."

Sderot may have been the town to have suffered most from the rocket attacks over the last eight years, but Anav Goldman of the Sderot Media Centre explained that the situation has become near-unbearable since the Israeli operations in Gaza began on Saturday.

"We have been suffering for eight years, but since Saturday it has become much worse," Goldman said. "Most people are spending most of the day in the bomb shelter, if they have one. Streets are empty at night and many families are leaving or making arrangements to leave."

The constant sound of sirens and explosions has taken its toll on Goldman, who works in Sderot three days a week and spends the rest of her time in Jerusalem.
"For me, it has been very stressful. I'm finding it hard to sleep. Even when I am not in Sderot, I wake up hearing the sound of the Colour Red alert," she said.

"Last week, a rocket fell a few metres away from the office. There aren't many offices in the world where you hear explosions when you go to work each day. Every little noise makes you jump. It definitely wears you down."

Read the latest copy of The Jewish News Online by clicking here.

Bookmark and Share