More rockets, more weapons, more ammunition, more hatred…more dead…..

We were shocked to hear about the bombing of an UNRWA ( United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East.) school in Gaza yesterday. We had been informed earlier this week that lots of Palestinians were taking refuge in schools and institutions run by the UNRWA . In the beginning we thought that the Israeli army had made a target mistake, but later we learned that Hamas activists were hiding there as well. This was not much of a surprise as we, unfortunately, know from previous incidents that this is part of Hamas’ strategy. It is a rule and not an exception to use civilians as shield for their activities. –The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) claim that they fired in order to kill two named Hamas activists, but that the explosion was so powerful once the bomb hit that it most probably also hit explosives stored in the building.
Nevertheless we feel pain. We may know some of the people who took refuge there… Many people from Gaza used to work in Gan Yavne until 2004.

Since the Israeli soldiers entered into Gaza we have heard about bomb factories and store rooms for weapons in the basement of regular apartment buildings. Hamas has developed a sophisticated system of subterranean tunnels and bunkers to be used for protection and escape routes for their own throughout the city of Gaza. No wonder they needed a six months cease fire with Israel….
We also know that more than 100 tunnels between Gaza and Egypt have been bombed. These tunnels have been used for the smuggling of weapons, ammunition , drugs and people from Egypt to Gaza. There are lots of Sinai Bedouins that are involved doing business of this kind with Palestinians from Gaza.

And there is still more…We were introduced to another two rockets this morning. The alarm went and we entered the bomb shelter to wait for the boom…We can both hear and feel them, and depending on how “strong” the feeling is we can tell how close it is. So, we knew that two rockets had landed in Gan Yavne. I am still amazed by the fact that these rockets seem to being “avoiding” people.
I got a phone call soon after the "booms" from my youngest daughter. She went on a trip today arranged by the community to visit with school children her age away from “rocket reach”. She wanted to know if everything was OK and told me that all the kids had been inside the bus ready to leave when the alarm went.
Later my husband called to check about the same.

Since the events this morning it has been a “less noisy day”.

Elin Elkouby.