Eyewitness Account : Sirens in Tel Aviv

November 15, 2012 may go down in history as the turning point in Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The red line that had been holding the IDF back from responding to more than 420 rockets fired into south Israel was crossed when Hamas terrorists launched longer-range, Iranian supplied rockets into Tel Aviv.

In the early evening hour of 6:45 PM Israeli time, the people in Tel Aviv heard warning sirens fill the air, a sound they have not heard for over 20 years.

We were in a taxi, stopped at a light in Ramat Aviv traffic, when the sound enveloped us. People in the streets looked dazed as to what to do and we weren’t sure what to believe. But, the picture became clear when the lady in the car next to me got out and crouched down in the road, protectively using her vehicle as a shield.

Then the sirens went silent and we continued in the traffic to our destination…the apartment we now call home. The news on the TV confirmed that Tel Aviv had been targeted by 2 rockets that landed in the Mediterranean Sea. Rather than staying home where we would be close to our Mamet (a secure room with steel rolled down window shields and special door), we went out to see what our neighbors were doing and saying.

It was Thursday night, the beginning of the Israeli weekend when the streets are busy with social life…but not tonight. It was noticeably quiet. The cafes were practically empty; the traffic was non-existent; the buses empty and the street with few casual shoppers or bikers. The residents here know that this attack on Tel Aviv will make a huge difference tonight and everyone was staying home.

The IDF did not disappoint its citizens. Within a few hours more than 70 sites in Gaza were targeted and successfully taken out. Places where recently fired rockets were located, where stockpiles of newly received Iranian long-range rockets were kept and where electrical power could be eliminated.

Now it is Friday and the sirens went off again in Tel Aviv around 1:28PM. This time we were walking on Bograshov Street, 3 blocks from our apartment. People ran and we followed them into a building that I had heard was a shelter for people who work in the stores and cafes on this one block, as well as locals walking by.

We quickly made our way to the stairwell that ran next to the elevator and walked down to the basement level. That is where we stayed until the locals felt it was safe to come out…5 minutes at the most. We all left the building and continued on our way, just as it had been before the sirens screamed their warning. So this is life in Israel today. (I have attached 3 pics to show the small shelter.)