Re “In ThisWar, What Is Significant About the Number Six?”
[Editor’s Note: As Hamas terrorists continue firing rockets into Israel, sending frightened residents underground, our correspondent resumes her daily update.]
Dateline Jerusalem — Sunday must have set a record for the number of Code Red Alert sirens, rockets, missiles, and mortars fired from Gaza. My computer application that notifies me whenever a siren goes off in a populated area has been working overtime. There were well over 200 sirens alerts for populated areas by 9 p.m., a record for the war with Hamas. I don’t know how many rockets hit unpopulated areas. As of midnight, there had been 278 alerts for a 24-hour period, a normal three days’ worth.
I do not know how people in the South have managed with less than 15 seconds to run for shelter for the last nine years. It has been a little over a month for me. My area rarely gets rockets. Already I feel frazzled. I think I am going to have to turn off the siren alert application on my computer because the buzzzzzzzz is really jarring.
Five rockets were shot into the Golan area of Israel by Syria yesterday, but they are claiming they were not aiming at us. Just like Lebanon Saturday. How is it that Israel gets caught in the crossfire between Syria and Lebanon? No area is safe from rocket fire. When there aren't rockets, deadly rocks and stones fly through the air. A man is in critical condition after losing control of the car he was driving with his wife and baby as passengers. It overturned when an Arab threw a rock that struck the man in the head.
The Palestinian Authority’s Abbas has come up with a plan to use the U.N. against Israel. That should be easy. But it must be quite diabolical because Abbas expects the U.S. to veto it. He wants the U.N. to make East Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinian state and the 1967 “borders” would be in effect. That means all Jewish holy sites, including the Western Wall/Wailing Wall/Kotel will be under Palestinian control. It means the ability for Israel to defend itself will be almost non-existent with yesterday's weapons. Abbas plans to “internationalize” the conflict and force Israel to comply with all U.N. resolutions regarding it. It must be much worse if he doesn't think he will get US support.
Start of the Weekend
Just as I had predicted on Friday, at 6 p.m. a barrage of rockets was fired at Israel in several areas. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, a rocket is fired from Gaza on the average of every 10 minutes.
Shabbat and after was peaceful in my city, except for the booms and blasts in neighboring towns that could be heard over my noisy air conditioner unit. I was lucky that no wailing sirens caused me to run for shelter. Unfortunately the rest of Israel did not enjoy a peaceful Shabbat. Saturday night, the sound of siren alerts was non-stop. Israeli jets flying above me are also non-stop.
Because I am Shabbat-observant, I am not on the computer or watching television during the 25 hours from when I first light candles bringing in Shabbat on Friday night just prior to sundown to the ending Havdala ceremony of wine, fragrant spices and candle flames Saturday night. Saturday alone, there were 100 Code Red Siren alerts for rockets aimed at populated areas. The total of actual rockets, missiles and mortars in both populated and open areas, I do not yet know.
Tragedies
Unfortunately there have been some tragedies to report. Just before Shabbat began, a family in the south was getting ready to leave their home to spend a peaceful Shabbat with relatives in another area because of the danger of remaining on their kibbutz. Sirens sounded, but there was not enough time within the few seconds that they had to get to their safe room. At most, some have 15 seconds to find safety. But their 4-year-old son, playing in his living room, did not have more than five seconds before he was killed by shrapnel from a mortar fired from Gaza. May his memory be a blessing. Where is the outrage at Hamas for sending rockets killing Israeli children? Why the double standard?
In another rocket incident, two brothers were in their car when a rocket hit it. One is in critical condition with shrapnel in his brain. A rocket fired from Lebanon hit a building in the Upper Galilee causing civilians to be treated for shock and another rocket from Lebanon hit Akko (Acre). Looks as if Israel is getting attacked from all sides.
Not only Arab terrorists from Gaza threaten Israel. An Arab terrorist from Jerusalem shot at Jewish homes during Shabbat, but only caused damage to the structures, not the people inside. However, from rooftops in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Arabs hurled rocks at Jewish pedestrians, causing one baby to be treated with head wounds at a Jerusalem hospital. Rocks can kill. It is time people understood that they are legitimate deadly weapons.
Shavua tov. (Have a good week)
L'hitraot. Shachar