An American woman who lives on a kibbutz about a mile from the Gaza border said she has come close over the years, but that Saturday’s Hamas surprise attack was on a completely different scale.
“Yesterday was scary,” said Deborah, who asked that her last name not be used for safety reasons. “Terrorists running wild through the streets.” This didn’t look like a “normal war,” she added, where “you know the drill.”
The Chicago native, 46, spoke to The Post on Sunday from her temporary hotel room in Jerusalem after an early morning evacuation from her home at Kibbutz Zikim.
The mother of two described how they barricaded themselves in a safe room amid the sound of bullets and constant rocket fire. “You don’t even know which side they’re coming from,” she said of the shooting.
Her brother-in-law, armed and wearing a bulletproof vest, protected the family while Deborah’s two daughters, ages 6 and 8, ran to the bathroom holding their breath.
Deborah “pulled the girls out one by one” between five and eight seconds after the siren sounded to get to safety.
“But even that is dangerous,” he said.
A photograph taken from the beach at Kibbutz Zikim in southern Israel shows the skyline of Gaza City. AFP via Getty Images Kibbutz Zikim is located near Ashkelon and just 1 kilometer from Gaza City and the Gaza Strip. Kibbutz Zikim/Facebook
During the day, the terrorists entered through Zikim Beach, infiltrated the Zikim military base before stealing IDF uniforms and tanks, and attempted to penetrate the kibbutz before being neutralized by security.
“It’s screwed, my poor girls,” he said, trying to protect them from the massacres that unfolded outside. “Unfortunately, this is not the children’s first rodeo. “Normal should not be playing ‘Tzeva Adom’ with My Little Pony,” she said of the “Color Red” song, which all Israeli school children learn and which mimics the rocket alert.
The girls hurriedly packed a suitcase full of toys during their Sunday morning evacuation against the backdrop of Apache helicopters flying overhead. Deborah worries about lasting trauma.
A Palestinian arrested on the side of a road on the second day of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. dpa/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
“They are small, it is exciting to be in a hotel, but they are not stupid. They see their community friends here and they know why,” she said.
For Deborah, who moved to Israel in 2011, danger has become a reality.
“I used to have a corporate credit card and take clients out for drinks. Now I live on the Gaza border,” she said. “I am one of two Americans on the kibbutz, and there are reasons for that. “I’m the only crazy one.”
Members of the Israeli army take positions in the Zikim area after a rocket attack from Gaza.dpa/picture Alliance via Getty Images
He assumed that an occasional rocket attack would, at best, be a nuisance to life near the enemy.
“We have a war here at least every year,” Deborah said, remembering running to the safe room once an hour while pregnant with her oldest daughter during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge.
Living on the border means you are always on the edge. “We are totally traumatized,” she admitted. “If we hear a car go by, we get scared,” she said of his mostly quiet community.
People were evacuated from their homes in Kibbutz Zikim during the attacks. AFP via Getty Images
Still, you can’t escape your destiny. “You can say, ‘I can’t believe I live there.’ But you never know,” she said.
He doesn’t know when the family will return home.
“I’m a little numb now,” she said. “We’re talking about moving further north; she’s been on the table for the last year.”
But even moving away from the Gaza border does not mean calm.
“Nothing in Israel is normal, ever,” he said. “There is always a certain level of alertness, but I would like to have more than eight seconds to run to shelter and feel safe. having a minute [further away] “It sounds like a dream.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn