Kassam rocket hits Hof Ashkelon

A Qassam rocket fired from Gaza exploded in Hof Ashkelon early this evening, near one of the moshavim. Miraculously there were no casualties or damage but the "Color Red" siren sent Hof Ashkelon residents running for their shelters, until they heard the rocket hit the ground.

Mortar fire and rockets have been aimed at us intermittently over the last few months, but mostly in the Sderot area. A stark reminder that the danger is not over. The Kassam rocket followed a barrage of mortar shells fired from Gaza earlier in the day, as well as an anti-tank missile fired at Israeli troops patrolling the border with Gaza. Nobody was hurt.

Latest report from Ira Kerem

The Current Situation in Kiryat Malachi-Hof Ashkelon - January 2, 2009

Hof Ashkelon

Living next to Gaza has not been easy over the last 8 years but the residents of Hof Ashkelon are now going through one of the most tension filled times they can remember. Missiles and mortars have fallen on the kibbutzim and moshavim for many years with most falling on the four kibbutzim and the one moshav closest to Gaza. However, today with Hamas trying to prove that they can hit targets up to 40 kilometers away, the furthest communities in Hof Ashkelon are also being targeted. It should be made clear that as of today, the missiles are mostly landing in open fields.. So far no one in Hof Ashkelon has been physically injured or killed by the missiles; no damage to buildings has been caused by the missiles during the last week..

However, the psychological damage has been great. The sense of fear and apprehension is ever present. Air raid alarms are sounded many times a day in all the communities. The instructions for the residents require them to remain close to protected rooms and shelters and you can imagine everyone, fearing the worst, rushing to shelters several times a day. Young children especially are going through a hard time with the results being a growing number of children crying constantly, wetting their beds, refusing to be separated from parents, and remaining nervous throughout the day and night. The fear is even greater on the communities further away from Gaza whose residents are unaccustomed to being targets of the missiles.

The therapists in the Treatment Center for Children, Teens, and Families (supported in the past by the partnership and today by the Tucson Federation) have been working over time in providing help and support to individuals and families who don't know how to cope with the situation. Other volunteers have gone out to the moshavim and kibbutzim and have met with numerous families and helped them deal with their anxieties.

In many ways, the 5 closest communities to Gaza are much better prepared than the other 15 in Hof Ashkelon. The army command ordered that all preschools without protective roofs be closed. The 5 closest to Gaza are in good shape since their preschool buildings have had protective roofs installed. Most of the roofs were paid for by the government but in Netiv Ha’asara, the moshav closest to Gaza, the special roofs are in place as a result of an allocation by the Phoenix Jewish Federation. Children in Netiv Ha’asara have been in a safe and organized framework this past week while children in other communities have been cared for by parents and whatever can be improvised.

The bomb shelters and reinforced rooms have for the most part been better equipped than the other communities. A good number of the shelters have been equipped with television sets, children’s games, and suitable furnishings – many as a result of contributions from the Tucson and Seattle Federations. These shelters are also being used as program centers for children and youth. In the other 15 communities, this kind of equipment is lacking. In fact, in the community of Nitzan where 900 of the former residents have been living in caravilla temporary housing since August 2005, there were no shelters and protected areas at all. The government has rushed in with protection for preschools and for the population at large. The Hof Ashkelon Regional Council is urgently seeking support to create more protected spaces in the other communities. There is also a need for TVs, children's games, and equipment for the shelters that are now being used for children and youth activity centers since schools have been cancelled. The council is also looking for contributions to fund these activities for youth and children.

While activities and programs are being planned and held for youth and children, the major thrust in Hof Ashkelon is to try and get vulnerable populations out of the region. Institutions all over Israel are opening up their homes and centers to those who have been targeted by missiles. One hundred and fifty residents of Netiv Ha'asara are now in Eilat as guests for 3 days of the hotel owners there. One hundred teens spent Thursday (January1) as guests of the community center of Ramat Hasharon. People from Kibbutz Yad Mordechai will be guests of Kibbutz Mishmar Ha'emek. Every day next week, another group will be hosted by organizations and people in Israel who want to relieve the tension that the residents of Hof Ashkelon are facing. The regional council could use help in funding the buses needed to transport these people.

Every morning at 8:00 and every evening at 6:30, the representatives of the army, police, home front command, government ministries, and the regional council departments –welfare, education, transportation, infrastructure, security, youth, etc. meet to coordinate policies and activities. Many subjects are covered. Today they discussed what to do about matriculation exams now that schools have been cancelled. Where can the regional council organize intensive study sessions for the high school students that will be safe and meet the standards of the home front command? Can this be done in central locations or must they be held in the 20 communities of Hof Ashkelon? Who will teach them? How will transportation be arranged? The council organizes for different populations to leave the region. Who should go next? Who will be in charge? What will the program be? Who will organize the buses? Who will pay for the buses? How will it be organized so that the days away go to those most in need and seem fair to everyone? The meetings take place in the underground emergency center which was refurbished by the Portland Jewish Federation. The emergency communication center, contributed by Phoenix and Tucson Federations, have been n continuous use facilitating contact with the 20 moshavim and kibbutzim and with the army, police, and the regional council agencies servicing the communities.

One of the most valuable organized groups are the local emergency volunteer teams providing emergency medical and psychological assistance, organized according to skills and professions (nurses, social workers, educators, etc.). These teams have been meeting non-stop with families in the kibbutzim and moshavim, offering advice and counseling to those who are finding it most difficult to cope with the tension stemming from the situation today. The Seattle Federation has contributed to those teams in the five settlements closest to Gaza but now two way radios, basic first aid kits and more sophisticated medic's medical kits need to be provided to the other communities.

The regional council possesses a jeep purchased by the San Jose Federation used by their security department to check on the border areas and all 20 communities. It needs to be replaced and while the Israeli government is willing to pay for part of the cost, outside funding is needed.

(I repeat Hof Ashkelon's funding requests: equipment and furnishings for bomb shelters; programs and activities for children and youth; communication equipment and medical kits for the emergency volunteer teams; a new security vehicle; and funding for buses willing to transport various HA populations to take advantage of outside Israeli organizations willing to host them. Anything that the federations can do to cover even partially some of these items would be extremely welcome.)

Kiryat Malachi

Four missiles fell this week in open fields near the town of Kiryat Malachi and that was all that was needed to bring a sense of apprehension and fear to the population of 22,000. Theoretically, it was known that Kiryat Malachi was in range of the Grad missiles but none had ever been fired at KM. Once the residents heard the nearby explosions, they realized that they too were targets of the missiles and the feeling of insecurity became widespread.

A emergency command center has been set up in a bomb shelter that was once used as the center of the youth council and located near the partnership's volunteer apartment. Representatives of the police, army, home front command, central government, and all the municipal departments sit there all day monitoring developments and creating systems and programs to deal with any possible emergency. Three times a day meetings are held to coordinate actions. Right now the emphasis is to give vulnerable populations time out of range of the missiles. Institutions and communities throughout Israel have enlisted to help towns like Kiryat Malachi.

Almost every day, children and youth are being taken to places like Haifa and Ramat Hasharon as guests of community centers and special institutions to enjoy amusement parks, social programs with local youth, and other activities to get everyone's minds off the missiles. The municipality is scrambling to find funds to pay for the bus trips (just yesterday 5 buses carried youth away for the day). Next week, 22 blind residents of KM will spend a week as guests of an agency in Hertziliya.

The Welfare Department is also trying to help deaf residents who can not hear the warning sirens by providing them with instruments that light up when the sirens go off. Staff members and volunteers have gone out and visited the homes of all of the senior citizens of the town, explaining to them what to do when the siren is on and to help them deal with their fears. For some seniors who have panicked and can no longer sleep or who no longer take their medications, the department has called family members living in other parts of the country to take in these seniors. Staff and volunteers have met with many individuals with disabilities and have tried to improve their ability to function under the tension caused by the missiles. They have also organized outings for them to places in Israel out of range of the missiles. Many of the social workers are dealing with serious problems connected with the security situation. A family had to cancel the Bar Mitzveh of their son. He was so agitated and disappointed that he threatened suicide. Others are trying to respond to the fears of children not wanting to be separated from their parents and not willing to go outside of their homes.

The Ethiopian Absorption Service of the town translated the government's instructions into Amharic and it 4 staff members and additional volunteers have visited every Ethiopian family in KM and explained in Amharic to the Ethiopian population the situation and how to cope with the emergency situation and how to deal with their anxieties.

Some of the town's after school programs, especially those that were supported by the Mother to Another program, are located in bomb shelters and starting next week programs and activities will be held in them during the day for this population since schools and preschools have all been cancelled. The partnership supported Youth Council and Art City production team will all be volunteering their talents in helping run the activities.

Anxiety is ever present amongst the town's residents and a list of needs to help alleviate the tension has been drawn up: rental of buses to take vulnerable populations to towns in the north and center of the country; programs and activities for children and youth to keep them busy, occupied, and safe while school is no longer in session; a replacement for the security vehicle originally provided by the Phoenix Jewish Federation that patrols schools and other public institutions; 10 walkie talkie systems; 8 intercom systems; 2 LCD TVs for bomb shelters; and most importantly according to the municipality for today are 8 computers and 2 laptops for the emergency command center.

Any help that the communities can provide in any of these areas would be of tremendous use and would be gratefully acknowledged in these tense times.

I would add one more need and that is to show the residents here that people in the partnership communities are thinking about them. A decision was made this week to place the six Otzma volunteers in Arad instead of Kiryat Malachi. A group of social work students in a master's program in Jewish communal work in Yeshiva University were scheduled to spend a day in KM examining how the city, the schools, the voluntary agencies, and the Ethiopian leadership handle new olim. The program was excellent if I must say so myself and of course has been cancelled. I hope that the upcoming partnership meeting will not be cancelled. There is a risk to life but the risk is small while the fear is great. Having a group of American leadership who are willing to come and stay with their partners in Kiryat Malachi would send a powerful message to the Israelis.

Those who want to contact children and youth in Hof Ashkelon can contact Hila Hamami. In Kiryat Malachi, Hila Kordova and Liat.

Ira Kerem

Monday Update

Report From Ira Kerem:

Included in a 10 km. radius from Gaza are almost all the moshavim and kibbutzim of Hof Ashkelon. Included in the 30 km. radius is Kiryat Malachi. This is not to say that KM or that even most of the settlements of HA are under attack but they are all within range of Hamas missiles.

Six thousand five hundred reserves have been ordered up and it looks like our ground forces are making their last preparations before being ordered to go in. Despite the effective air force attacks at weakening Hamas, no one should believe that Hamas has lost the ability to fight and to inflict serious casualties to our forces.

The next phase of this war will not be so clean to us and certainly not to the civilians who will be caught in the firing. We should expect a lot more condemnation from the rest of the world but maybe, and this is a big maybe, this attack might change things for the better. Then again, we might never be able to silence their rockets and we just might be on the road to losing lots of soldiers and whatever little sympathy we might have had with the rest of the world. It is a difficult call. As is too often the case, there were no good choices for us. Let's hope and pray that we will be better off after this action and that human life will be spared as much as possible, Ira

See below an email, sent on to me today;

From Maxine, a resident of Ashkelon.
====================================================

Dec 29, 2008 at 12:39 PM

subject :Another day in Ashkelon under missile fire

--------------------------------------------------

It's 12:25 in the afternoon and the city has been jumping, literally and figuratively. The morning started nice and quietly enough and since there were no alerts during the night, it lulled many of us into a false hope that the worst was behind us, that is until the first alarm of the day at about 9:15.

As per drill, we (Rafi, Shani, me and the 3 dogs) all ran downstairs to my mother-in-law's hall, where she was already waiting for us with her housecleaner who was muttering something in Russian, like "oy, oy, oy." Then, a massive "boom" shook the air. It was so loud that my mother-in-law heard it - and without her 2 hearing aids, she doesn't hear a thing.

We waited a few extra minutes and then the phone started ringing. This one was really not far from the house, within a 10 minute walking distance and is on the route for my semi-regular power walks. A worker was killed and several injured. He didn't go into the shelter that was on site and so, he became the city's first (and hopefully only) fatality. And ironically enough he's an Israeli Arab.

After that, there were about 12 more rockets, the last one landing even closer to the house, near my brother-in-law's house where all the windows shook.

We also hear the bombings coming from our army and for those, obviously, there are no alerts but we jump anyway.The Homefront Command has told us all to stay indoors and so I opted not to go to work today,even though I am all dressed and ready to go. I'll stay in the house where hopefully I'll be safe. I have no desire to go outside whatsoever, although my Oreos are gone and I am tempted to run out and buy a new supply but I think I'll pass.

[My daughter] Shani isn't going to work today either and after this last grad, the streets here are really empty of cars and pedestrians. Shani's girlfriend was supposed to get married tomorrow night outside of Ashdod, the next town over and now in range, but the Homefront has cancelled any gatherings of more than 40 people and rather than look for a place in Tel Aviv now, and go thru all the dynamics of making a wedding, she's cancelled the wedding til this blows over.

The malls are closed, Ashkelon College has cancelled classes as well, and although the sun is shining, it's not a sunny day.

The following comes from my friend Leone, and she has a point:

• If we were trying to kill civilians, with our plane attacks, 300 would be a shameful number! We would have killed thousands and thousands by now! But that goes unnoticed.

That's all for now. We're just hanging out waiting for the next one. We've gotten invitations to stay at friends, distant and not-so-distant family, and even some of my students from the college called and invited us to their houses out of missile range (anything for an "A"?!). We have plans to get out of Ashkelon if it gets really bad but I'd rather not; it's such a headache.

Time will tell.

Bye for now,

Maxine,

Ashkelon, Israel

Update Sunday 28th Dec

Report From Ira Kerem:

Thank you to all of our American friends who have called and written expressing their concern over what is happening in Gaza and how it impacts on life in Hof Ashkelon and Kiryat Malachi.

In our region, things are relatively quiet. Missiles have fallen into open fields but none have hit homes, public buildings or have hurt individuals in the region. I spent the day in Kiryat Malachi which is now in range of missiles from Gaza (one actually hit Kiryat Gat) but people were out on the streets and in the stores and it felt like a regular sunny day. So far, Kiryat Malachi has not had a bomb planted in the town, not had a suicide bomber blow up there, and not had a missile hit it.

Even though 4 kibbutzim and a moshav are situated 3 miles or less from the Gaza border, recent missile fire is aimed at their maximum range in an attempt to create a sense of insecurity to as many Israelis as possible. A missile hit the outskirts of Ashdod to make that point.

Revital tells me that our kibbutzim and moshavim have not been hit. Of course, people stayed home today and close to shelters. The whole region is uneasy and it is doubtful if schools in the region will be held Tuesday when the Hanukah vacation comes to an end.

Rocket-alert sirens are going off on a frequent basis and people are feeling nervous in the city of Ashkelon and in Hof Ashkelon.

In the meantime, Phoenix and Tucson must be thanked for the creation of Hof Ashkelon's emergency communication's center. It has been fully staffed by the army and has been in operation for the last two days. TV crews and notables have come by to visit and to see how the region in cooperation with the police, the army, and the government stay in touch with the 19 communities of Hof Ashkelon.

Portland should also be thanked for having paid for the emergency governing center where the Hof Ashkelon municipal departments are now located underground and from where they are providing services to all who are in need.

Hopefully, the ability of Hamas to carry out serious and accurate missile attacks has been crippled, however even under air force attack, they were able to kill a 50 year old man in Netivot.

Let us hope and pray that the residents of the Jewish communities surrounding Gaza will be able to live in safety. Let us also hope that the Palestinian civilians in Gaza might also be able live in safety under a leadership that really cares for their welfare.

I am sure that we will have more to report in the coming days.

Ira

Rocket attacks from Gaza

Today the Hamas in Gaza fired 60 rockets at Israeli civilian targets. Since the end of the ceasefire there has been continuous missile, mortar and rocket bombardment from Gaza at civilian targets in Israel. Sirens have sent residents of southern Israel to seek shelter in "secure rooms". For the first time, rocket-alert sirens have also been activated in Kiryat Gat, Ashdod and Kiryat Malachi though rockets have not yet fallen there.

Israel has finally had enough and today there was a massive airstrike on Gaza military targets by the Israel airforce. The Hamas was caught by surprise and many military targets were eliminated. A state of high alert has been declared.

From ynet: The army called on communities located close to the Gaza Strip fence, and also on Sderot residents, to remain indoors. Public gatherings have been disallowed. Other communities located up to 10 kilometers away from the Strip were ordered to remain 15 seconds away from secured rooms. There too, no public gatherings are allowed.

In communities located 10-20 kilometers away from the Strip, including Ashkelon, residents were ordered to remain no more than 30 seconds away from secured rooms. Communities located in the 20-30 kilometer range, including the towns of Ashdod, Ofakim, Kiryat Malachi, and Kiryat Gat must remain 45 seconds away from shelters.

An email exchange:

Nicole (resident of Hof Ashkelon): "We heard the blasts and booms of the IDF attacking Gaza very heavily this morning, and then there were red alert sirens - rockets being launched in our direction. I don't know of any that landed in Hof Ashkelon but by mid afternon today 6 rockets had fallen in Ashkelon - miraculously they landed in open spaces, we heard it - but only faintly this time.

Netivot is bearing the brunt of the missile attacks in the current barrage, with one person killed and injuries. I expect you are reading all about it in ynet. Here the TV is continuously reporting . It's still Hanuka vacation but in any case schools have been closed until further notice.I'm supposed to be leaving on Monday night on a trip overseas but I am loath to go while this is going on".

Ira Kerem in reply: "Things are going to probably get a lot worse in the next few days and weeks. Hamas and the other terrorist groups have ordered all out war on Israel. As we have learned from Lebanon, there is a limit to what the air force alone can do to protect civilian targets. So after more of our civilians are killed, there will be a call for the army to go into Gaza and then we will lose a few hundred soldiers and be in the same situation. We will be condemned by the UN and most of the world for killing innocent civiliians. It really is no win. Go on your trip. Your presence in Hof Ashkelon is not going to save the situation".