3 weeks without school.

My children have lost 3 weeks of teaching. The reason for them not returning to school is that there are not enough bomb shelters. The schools in the south have had to cope with this problem for many years and so their schools have been secured, but for us the situation is new.
The fact that our children are at home has saved lots of lives. Rockets have hit schools in Beer Sheva, Ashdod and Ashkelon as well as kinder gardens.
We have had less rockets the last week. This is creating a dangerous situation as people feel more safe and leave their houses more frequently. The chance to get hit grows when the distance to safe havens is longer. Two incidents yesterday show this. In Sderot a house was hit directly. The people were at home but entered the security room when the alarm was heard. That not only saved their lives but also protected them from injury.
Some people in Beer Sheva were not so fortunate later in the afternoon as they were out of the house when the alarm was heard. Two people, among them a 7 year old boy , were seriously wounded and were brought to the hospital. 5 others got lighter wounds. The bombs are filled with all kinds of bullets and other metal pieces which are scattered as the rocket hits the ground. Despite his mother’s attempt to shield him shrapnel penetrated the boy’s head.

The Israeli Army succeeded in killing Said Siam, a Hamas key person in Gaza. He was killed together with other Hamas top activists by an IDF strike on his brother’s house yesterday. The IDF hit as soon as Siam entered…which shows that they are being informed from sources within Gaza.
The UNWRA head quarters was hit yesterday as Israelis fired back at gunmen taking shelter in the UN facilities. The foreign reporters do not understand (or refuses to understand) that it is part of Hamas’ strategy to create situations which will cause the Israelis to fire at places like this.
In the middle of all the things that are happening there are cease fire talks. Some Israeli army experts say that it is OK to stop the operation now while others disagree.
I am not an expert on army matters but just a simple mother who would like things to be quiet. I do realize though that there is a need to secure the border between Egypt and Gaza so that the transportation of weapons and ammunition will stop. That alone is not enough to stop violence. We have a serious problem here with hate based on lies. It will take more than cease fire talks to get to the bottom of that problem…

Elin Elkouby