On the morning of November 12th, 2019, Israel carried out a targeted assassination of Baha Abu Al-Ata, the leader of Islamic Jihad in Gaza. In response, the Islamic Jihad began launching rockets from Gaza into cities across Israel, as far north as Tel Aviv. Around the world, Jewish people saw alerts of rockets, read news articles, and posted updates on social media. And though this event was certainly terrifying for Israelis living in the areas under attack, there are also parts of the country that got by without a single Red Alert. What is it like to be there?
Being in Jerusalem the last few days has been relatively quiet, actually. We all get the “red alert” notifications on our phones for cities across the western coast and central areas of Israel, but Jerusalem has not heard anything in the air as of yet. Security measures have been refreshed and spread, but have not been put into action. Families are checking in with their children studying abroad, but we’re all just fine.
There’s something in the air, though. Drivers on the roads yesterday were a bit more on edge, people were constantly checking their phones, and in my classes the news became the number one point of conversation. It’s not that no one knows about these attacks, but it doesn’t impact our daily life, our commute to school, or our unpredictably hot weather.
Rockets are terrifying, I don’t mean to say that they aren’t. And I’m sure had I been in Sderot or Ashkelon, or even Modi’in or Tel Aviv, I would have an entirely different story. However, from where I stand (or, rather, sit) now, it seems as though Israel is stronger than people on the outside tend to assume.
In short, we’re okay.
Below is linked the Jerusalem Post's interactive map of where the rockets landed in the last bout of attacks.
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