Yaron's adventures in the bomb shelter - Thursday, January 15, 2009

Ann wrote:

Thursday, January 15, 2009

When Yaron got home on yesterday he was very happy to tell me all about his exciting morning. Because he lives so far away from the school, and because he is the only one from our village who attends there, he has a driver (also from our village) who takes him in a taxi each day. They were actually just approaching the school when the sirens went off. At first they thought it was just a police car, until they heard the news on the radio. They ran to bomb shelter #1, but was told it was full, so they ran to bomb shelter #2. After a few minutes they were told to go back to shelter#1 because that was where the rest of the class was. (I'm glad there weren't any more rockets flying around by then! There are obviously a few kinks in the procedure to work out!)

Once back in the correct shelter with his class, he settled down and started talking about all kinds of war history, which the kids were apparently intersted in. (He doesn't always catch on that his interests are not necessarily shared by others, but in this case his teacher said the other kids were genuinely interested.) This was fine for the first little while, but then things got more exciting.

After about twenty minutes, one of his close friends lost it and flipped out. He got hysterical and kept trying to leave, saying he wanted to go home to his parents. An hysterical child (or adult) is never fun, especially in a closed situation where you can't leave. But in this case they had an even more serious problem. This child is already over 6'6" tall, has a stocky build, and is only 14 with an emotional intelligence much younger. So basically for the rest of the time they were in the shelter, Yaron took it upon himself to calm his friend down and then to keep him that way.

All told, they were in the shelters for about two hours. Yaron, who used to panic very easily, was very proud of himself for keeping his cool the entire time. He's matured a lot the past two years. And maybe spending 6 weeks in our home bomb shelter helped a bit too? His 14th birthday is on Sunday.

When the rockets hit, the army shot artillery rounds into the area they were fired from in Lebanon, and fighter jets and attack helicopters were scrambled. We still had a lot of air activity today. Israel also filed a formal complaint with the UN. Also, soldiers from the UN and the Lebanese army also patrolled the area, which is under their control. So far this looks like an isolated incident, just like the one near near Nahariya last week.

A

North - update

Ann wrote:


About 9 o'clock this morning 3 katushya rockets fell near the city of Kiryat Shmonah, which is near the border with Lebanon north of us. The rockets fell in fields around the city. The army immediately fired artillery rounds into the area where the rockets came from. In the hour since then it has been quiet, but everyone in the area has been asked to stay in or next to their bomb shelters until further notice. Even the regional courthouse is holding trials in the bomb shelter!

At about the same time, there was an exchange of gunfire on the Lebanese border near the coastal city of Nahariya.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the rockets, which means that they probably weren't fired by the Hisballah. There are plenty of small Palestinian militias which operate in the area, and it was probably one of them. However, none of them operate without the complicit sanction of Hisballah, which controls the area.

What is worrying is that the rockets were fired from the area of Marjdayoun and the Hazbani in southern Lebanon, which is up on a natural bench north of the border near Banyas / Tel Dan. This is territory which is technically under the auspices and control of the multinational UN peacekeeping force which was placed there to keep the peace after the 2006 war.

Yaron's school is next to the city. His teacher just called to tell us that as soon as the siren sounded they got all the children down into the bombshelters, and they will stay there until the army tells them it is safe to come out. The bomb shelters have food, water, bathrooms, etc. She said Yaron is very calm and is giving a lecture on the history of warfare to the other students, who are all sitting around him in rapt attention. He loves an audience! He also has an encyclopedia and another book with him, so he is fine.

I'll keep you posted.

A