Thursday, February 7, 2008

When the rocket hits

Yesterday was quiet. Quiet until…

Until about 5:15 PM when a rocket alert was heard. I happened to already be in our safe room and several others came in when a very strong blast was heard. I waited several seconds and then rushed out since it was clearly close. I saw a large smoke cloud in the middle of our street. I shouted to a group of people at the top of the street asking "where did it fall". No one knew and at that moment I saw my neighbor coming out of her house shouting "it hit my house" I ran towards her and saw that she was unhurt. She told me no one is hurt and but her 2 older kids are still in the house and she is going to look for her youngest child who was not home during the blast. I ran into the house and helped the two kids out from within the wreckage and the cloud of smoke and dust. It was hard to breath. The two kids came out unhurt and told me there is no one else in the house. By this time many people had arrived and within minute the police and other emergency crews arrived. Cameras were flickering everywhere and it seemed as though everyone wanted to be part of this horrific event.

The damage to the house was pretty bad and after a while crowd of spectators and media started to disperse.

This is the first time a rocket falls and hits a house in our street. It is a terrible feeling that no place is safe. We are so thankful that no one was injured but are also aware that next time it may be different and that in previous events people were not as lucky.

The rockets must stop if any kind of normality can come back to our town.

I once again call to stop the violence on both sides. Innocent people are being hurt everyday and the only thing that keeps us going is the hope that someday it will change.

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