The day after the war

The war has been going on for 6 days.

On Saturday December 27th at 12:08 I received an SMS message from a friend in Sderot that a large scale attack has started by the Israeli air force in Gaza and that blasts are being heard very strongly in Sderot. I was in the north of Israel with my family visiting our family.

That evening I returned home. My wife and kids remained in the north and are there until this very moment.

The past 6 days have been extremely troubling. Israel has been continuously bombing Gaza. The sounds of the attacks can be clearly heard in Sderot. For the first 2 days only very few rockets were launched from Gaza towards Israel and then the counter attack came. The whole southern part of Israel covering areas with several large cities (Ashkelon, Beer Sheva, Ashdod) have been targeted. Between 60 and 100 rockets a day have been fired from Gaza. In these attacks 4 people have been killed dozens wounded and thousands of people that previously had not been regarded in the range of the rockets are in shock.In Gaza over 400 people have been killed and thousands wounded. The air force and navy have been targeting hundreds of targets.

The public opinion in Israel is largely supporting the war. A poll taken shortly after the attack said that over 81% of the population in Isreal supports the action. I am not sure the poll is accurate and what more recent polls will show, but I expect that this percentage will decrease only slightly.

Sderot has been attcked as all other cities and towns in the range of the rockets (40-50 km around Gaza) but due to the fact that so many other palces have been targetted, strangely we have actually been hit less that in some previous escalations...
Many people have left Sderot and I estimate less than 50% of the people remain. Very few people are walking in the streets and no children are seen anywhere.

The war was a great mistake, however it is no wonder that so many people in Israel support it.
The ongoing reality of rockets falling in Sderot and other places for 8 years is a terrible reality. Many people of our region have left it for good over the years. Bringing up children in such a reality seems almost abusive and certainly irresponsible.
There is a feeling in most of the Israeli society, that there was no choice but to attack Gaza and stop the rockets once and for all. This is an expected human reaction to the on going situation.

With that said, I personally think it is a terrible mistake that could have been avoided. For 5 months there was an almost complete cease fire. Instead of taking advantage of this long period of quiet to reach a long term agreement, both sides spent their time preparing for this war by planning and arming. No serious efforts were made to start a dialog. The siege by Isreal continued and the smuggling of arms by the Hamas continued. It was a cease fire but only to prepare for the next terrible round which we are experiencing this very moment.

I am very pessimistic at the moment. My fear is that a ground attack is coming and that much more pain is still ahead. Eventually some kind of agreement will be achieved. I hope it will happen soon, I fear it will not.

Peace Man and I talk every day. We support each other and worry for each others well being. I am in contact with others in Gaza and share my situation while hearing of theirs. Much fear and pain on both sides.

What me and others are doing is continuing the dialog with friends in Gaza. We are working to widen and deepen this dialog with more people on both sides. The day after the war we want to start finding ways to work together and create a normality. We are only several kilometers apart and that will never change. It is extremely important to widen our dialog and create trust between those that are willing to talk. To share our stories, fears and hopes.
The day after the war we need a new beginning. Let's start planting seeds of humanity and trust now.