[Editor’s Note: As Hamas terrorists continue firing rockets into Israel, sending frightened residents underground, our correspondent resumes her daily update.]
Dateline Jerusalem — Update for Sunday: A sad day. This morning there were sirens again while talking to a friend. Had my windows open. Wow, are they loud. Rushed into stairwell. Back at my computer. I awakened this morning to the buzzzz from my computer, notifying me of another Code Red Alert in Israel. It has been buzzing ever since. I was not surprised when my area was hit. Awakened to news of the deaths of more Israeli soldiers. May their memory be a blessing. Still hearing booms in the distance. Amazing how loud this must be. I have a slight hearing problem but I clearly hear booms, thuds, sirens. Forty-five Code Red Siren alerts this morning. As of 11 o’clock tonight, there were 75, a quiet day.
A friend called to say that she and her husband had spent Shabbat at the home of one of her children in a community far from here. There is a twisty road to get to it. Not only was the sky black, the entire area was. She said driving home Saturday night after Shabbat was scary. Israeli Arabs had cut down all the power lines to the areas.
Tragic Numbers
How is this for statistics? In the last 12 days Hamas has launched over 1500 rockets and missiles at major Israeli population centers with 1,100 hitting Israel, 100 hitting themselves in Gaza causing Palestinian civilian deaths, and only about 300 shot down by the Iron Dome. Thirty Palestinian terror and smuggling tunnels have been found so far. Five were so long they did not end just over the Israeli border but deep into Israel. The latest Israeli deaths were caused by Palestinian terrorists dressed in Israeli army uniforms infiltrating Israel from the tunnels.
Picture these tunnels: If you ever have been to New York City, you may be familiar with its underground network of subways and sewer passages, and manhole covers that jut above the roadways. Terror and smuggling tunnels in Gaza are an underground maze of hundreds of these tunnels that interconnect and in some cases are booby-trapped. Mostly they have a sophisticated communication system, food, water, an assortment of guns and knives and other weapons, rockets and missiles and rocket-launchers and missile launchers. They criss-cross underneath Gaza, connecting houses to houses, cities to cities, and in some cases, ending up on Israel's side of the border. This network of tunnels is like an underground city. How would you like to have a terrorist lift the lid of a hidden manhole cover and enter your neighborhood? Israelis are not just facing non-stop rockets and missiles, but infiltration of terrorists into Israel through these tunnels.
Today, the International Red Cross called for a “humanitarian” ceasefire for a particular area that Israel is targeting because in that area Israel found 10 terror tunnels and rocket launchers in Palestinian homes. The cease fire was to go into effect at 1:30 p.m., but Hamas launched rockets into Israel at 1:40. So much for a cease fire. Why hasn't the International Red Cross called for a “humanitarian” ceasefire from Hamas rockets bombarding Israel? Could it be because the International Red Cross is so anti-Semitic that for 50 years it refused to allow Israel's Magen David Adom (emergency services of Israel) to join its ranks until the U.S. Red Cross withheld its dues? Once MDA was allowed to join, they were not permitted to use a red Star of David, but Islamic members can use a red crescent and Christian members can use a red cross.
A Prayer
I wish to close today with a prayer for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), for without their determination and bravery, fighting not a political war but a fight for the existence of the State of Israel and the survival of its people, I might not be here to report to you.
“He Who blessed forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces, who stand guard over our land and the cities of our God, from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.
“May the Almighty cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighters from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor. May He lead our enemies under our soldiers’ sway and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is the Lord your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you. Now let us respond: Amen.”
July 19 — It is Saturday night, and Shabbat is over. As I write this update that covers Shabbat from sundown last night through midnight tonight, I hear rumblings in the distance, loud enough to overcome my noisy apartment air conditioner. As of this minute there have been 92 Code Red Siren alerts for just Saturday. My weekend so far:
Friday night I had a table full of guests for Shabbat dinner, enjoying good food, good conversation, and an excellent d'var Torah (a word of Torah). The Torah portion of the week is commented upon, interpreted, discussed by all at the table because no festive meal should be without Torah and G-d being part of it. All of a sudden we heard the scream of the sirens and ran into the overly crowded stairwell of my building. Thunderous booms seemed to shake the building. I was not the only one with guests for Shabbat dinner. This made the stairwell a little snug. We stood together waiting for the booms and thuds to stop before we could safely return to our dinners.
So much for a peaceful Shabbat. Saturday the sirens again were sounded in my area. My neighbors and I rushed into the stairwell. Only three of us were wearing shoes, one lady in a nightgown- like shift, another man shirtless. My shoes were half on my feet and half off, as my heels came down on the backs of my shoes because there was no time to put them on properly. I tried to take a nap afterward but it was difficult with my legs hanging over the sofa so that my shoes (which I now wear constantly) would not ruin it.
Tonight when I opened my computer I received an email from someone at my synagogue informing us to not open any free perfume samples we might receive in our mailboxes because they are poison.
Just received this from a friend of mine about a cartoon in the Washington Post. This was his reply to the newspaper:
“Dear Ombudsperson:
“I just had the extremely dubious pleasure of seeing a cartoon on your newspaper’s YouTube channel by Ann Telnaes. In it, our Prime Minister is depicted using a baby as a punching bag.
“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtmUL4IVIq4
“Julius Streicher (y”sh), the editor of the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer, would have been proud of that piece of art.
“My wife and daughter just 15 minutes ago had to seek shelter in the dirt from a rocket attack by the murderous Hamas terrorists whom your cartoonist is siding with. We are not amused.
“I believe the only fitting apology of your cartoonist for the vile anti-Semitic cartoon she just published would be her resignation letter. “
Just received a report that 34 Hamas terror tunnels were discovered so far. There was another attempt at infiltrating Israel through these tunnels.
L'hitraot. Shachar
