December 31, 2008 - Days 3-5

Ann wrote:

Right now it's 3:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, December 31. Since I wrote
last the
expected rocket attack by Hamas has begun in earnest.. It still hasn't been as
intensive
as we had expected, but it has been deadly nonetheless. What has happened,
though, is
that Hamas has been firing the longer-range missiles that we knew they had (the
ones used
so far were made in China). This means that not only can they fly farther, but
their
warhead is larger so the damage they cause is greater. And as Hisballah did in
2006, the
Hamas people have packed the warhead with steel ball bearings (like large BBs)
and bolts.
The rocket itself can cause damage for about 100 yards from the point of impact,
but the
ball bearings are like shotgun pellets and cause even more damage. They shred
everything
in sight, and can penetrate concrete.



Monday night for the first time, Beersheva was hit by rockets. Beersheva is
only 50 miles
from Jerusalem, and 65 from Tel Aviv. The first rocket fell straight into a
kindergartern.
Luckily it was night, so it was empty. Very few children would have survived
the blast,
judging by the damage. Today rockets also fell near a hospital, and one fell
directly
into a school. When the Beersheva city engineer went to inspect the damage, he
was
shocked not only by the extent of the damage, but also by where the rocket had
penetrated
the building. It was right over his daughter's desk! Because New Year's is
not a holiday
in Israel, we are back in school now. Again, it was lucky that school in
Beersheva
(including the university) was cancelled. For those who do celebrate New
Year's, the army
has recommended staying at home.



The closest town (Kiryat Gat) to the kibbutz where I used to live has been hit
several
times, as well many other towns in the area. It is north of Beersheva, about 30
miles from
either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Yavneh has been hit, as has the city of Ashdod.
Monday
night the first rocket to hit Ashdod killed the mother of 4 young children.
Mortar rounds
near the border killed a soldier, a Druze officer from the city of Daliat
HaCarmel, near
Haifa. Of the four Israeli dead two were Jewish, one was Arab and one was
Druze. I
spoke to my kibbutz "mother" this morning. She is naturally quite stressed
out. And
this is a woman who was a baby during the Holocaust, and has survived 7 wars,
and who is
married to a man who was a paratrooper in the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur
War.



Some of the cities have found that their sirens aren't working correctly, so all
of the
television stations show a flashing red circle when there is a rocket incoming,
along with
the name of the area. It is a weird feeling to see it. In 2006 we got
messages on our
cell phones, as well as the sirens. As of 4 pm, 45 rockets have fallen into
Israel today.



One thing that the army learned from Lebanon is not to let the journalists
broadcast live
from the scene. Two years ago the journalists could pretty well go where they
wanted, and
Hisballah used the broadcasts to aim their next volleys. Now the army is
restricting
access, and all news footage has to be okayed before being broadcast. No live
broadcasts
are allowed from areas which could provide information to the enemy.



I'm off to work, so more later.



A