Shalom. 28.12.08
The first Kassam missile has landed not far from where we live. We are used to hear about attacks on towns and Kibbutzes near Gaza, but this is the first one to land in our town Gan Yavne.
Israel has suffered from these attacks for the last 7 years, and the towns and Kibutzes close to the Gaza border has been terrorized on a daily basis. Last summer a cease fire was signed by Hamas. It has been more quit for the last half a year than before this agreement, although it was obvious to every Israeli that this calm would be temporary and that what was actually going on was that the Hamas prepared themselves for attacks further into Israeli territory. The Hamas expected the Israelies to answer by bringing soldiers into Gaza and had been preparing for that as well.
Yesterday the Israeli Army decided to attack Hamas “strongholds” from the air. It is clear to everybody that any action aimed at Hamas will cause suffering to innocent sivilians
The Egyptian foreign minister expressed on TV yesterday that Hamas had been warned and that they will have to take responsibility for what happens to them now. Egypt has sent soldiers to the border next to Gaza in order to prevent Palestinians from trying to get into Egypt.
Not only Israelis are suffering from Hamas terror, but also people inside Gaza itself. Whoever does not agree with Hamas is being black listed and will be “wiped out” sooner or later. ( when the Hamas went to war against the Fatah they were not “soft spoken”)
We know that the evangelical Christians inside Gaza are traumatized. Since the attacks on the Bible Society and the brutal killing of Rami (last year), the activities that were run by the Bible Society ( humanitarian aid) have been forced to stop, pastor Hannah has left with his family to the States and at least 9 other families have been moved to safety in Bethlehem.
There are lots of secular Moslems who are sick and tired of hate , bitterness , killing, suffering and who would prefer to work for a better future for their children by other means.
The world press have been very clever informing the world about the Israelies preventing trucks with supplies to enter into Gaza. They have not, however, been as clever informing about the fact that many such trucks have been targeted and shot at by the Hamas upon entering. The Hamas are using methods that western mentality does not understand and therefore do not report. The Hamas will do everything in their power to cause the whole world to criticize Israel and to blame the lack of food and medical supplies on the Israeli closure of the border crossing points.
We have family in a Kibutz close to the Gaza border. Yesterday as we watched the news we were informed that there might be a need to evacuate people living within a 10 km distance from the border. We immediately rang our relatives to inform them that they can come and stay with us. ( Nissim has an uncle , aunt and their daughter with husband and two children living in Kibutz Nir Am close to the border.) The answer that we got back was that they were waiting for busses to pick them up and to bring them to a kibbutz near Beer Sheva. I spoke with them again this morning to check if they are OK.
They do not know for how long they will have to be away from their homes.

Please, ( whatever you do out there…Do not make too quick conclusions. There are people suffering on both sides of the border….. Personally I believe that the biggest curse on the Palestinians is for them to be controlled by fanatic Moslem groups like the Hamas.

Elin Elkouby