The media images from southern Israel and Gaza chronicling the embattled region, the loss of life and the deteriorating human conditions are overwhelming. It is terribly tragic that innocent people are dying and injured in both Israel and Gaza. No one wants the hatred to continue and many wish for peace. However the current situation was necessitated because Hamas, a terrorist organization in Gaza whose covenant states on page 1, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it,” has been attacking Israeli civilians at will for many years. 

Israel is now acting in defense, reacting to a situation forced upon her. Rocket fire began in 2001, and since the Israeli government completed the withdrawal of its troops and citizens from the Gaza strip in August of 2005, over 6,300 rockets have been fired from Gaza at the homes, schools, businesses and synagogues of Israel's southern communities. Six months ago, the two sides agreed to a "tahdia" -- or short-term cease-fire -- but the rockets never fully ceased. On Dec. 19, Hamas unilaterally declared this cease-fire over, and large-scale rocket fire resumed.

I had my own taste of terror from Gaza when I visited several towns and communities along the Israel-Gaza Border on November 18, 2008. On route, my fellow travelers and I were instructed that if we heard the “Color Red” alert, we had 10-15 seconds to file off the bus, run for cover, curl up into a ball and protect our heads. If a rocket hit the bus, the shrapnel could travel over 50 meters.  I was sitting in the middle of the bus and knew I would not be able to get out. 

When we reached our first destination, we were instructed to always keep our eyes moving about to locate places we could run to within 10 seconds. I looked around and keep trying to identify bomb shelters, reinforced buildings...anyplace where I might be safe. A rocket had hit the town of Sderot on November 16. We met with people who were trying to live normal, productive lives while under constant terrorist attack. While we were visiting with some seniors and learning about the rockets that hit their homes (last year 700 rockets hit near this one kibbutz), there was a huge, loud noise and my fellow visitors and I jumped up, ready to seek refuge. The seniors did not move, for they recognized that the noise was an Israeli jet and it had not been preceded by a “Color Red” alarm. One person from my trip used his blackberry to see what was taking place and it turned out the jet had taken off because a rocket had just hit Yad Mordecai, a kibbutz 5 kilometers (3 miles) away.

We met with school children, teens, young adults, parents and seniors, each with nightmare stories of living through years of constant bombing. Eighty-four percent of the children in the area have symptoms of trauma: wetting beds, picking fights and scared to come out of their houses, for example. Adults panic, forgetting to grab a child as they run to a shelter or flee a bus. Businesses have closed and unemployment and poverty levels are sky high. Those who can afford to have left their homes and moved away. We heard myriad stories of the compromises people make each day, such as whole families sleeping in living rooms to be on the first floor making it easier to escape, radios and TVs never used so to hear the “Red Color” alert, bus stops turned into bomb shelters and new shelters built on soccer fields and playgrounds.

We visited a police station where the rocket remnants were collected and stored. Eight years ago, the kassams were home made and very unpredictable. At first they traveled about 2 miles and then as they became perfected went to 3 miles and then 5 miles. The latest weapons are GRAD missiles that are like Kayusha rockets and they have hit targets almost 30 miles away. GRADs are not made in Gaza and are imported from Iran. With rockets now hitting civilian sites in Ashdod and Beer Sheba, over 1 Million Israeli men, women and children are under daily attack from Hamas in Gaza.

Today, Israel is reacting just like any other nation under constant attack. If Detroit was hit by Canada or San Antonio was hit by Mexico with 50 rockets in 50 hours, the United States would act decisively to end the threat. As President-elect Barack Obama, when visiting Sderot, Israel in July of 2008 noted, if his own two girls were to be hit while sleeping in their beds, he for one would not stand still.

The reality of the conflict is that Israel takes every possible measure to protect innocent lives, often putting its soldiers at additional risk in the process. Hamas attacks indiscriminately, seeking to maximize the number of civilian casualties on the Israeli side, and intentionally operates in Palestinian population centers, thus using non-combatant men, women and children as human shields in clear violation of legal and moral norms.

Israel continues to work diligently with members of the international community to alleviate the human suffering in Gaza. During the past six months, Israel has facilitated more than 14,624 truckloads of humanitarian assistance including more than 185,000 tons of supplies and 39 million liters of fuel. There have been more than 4,130 medical evacuations to Israeli hospitals. On Dec. 28 alone, Israel shipped four truckloads of flour, three of medicines and medical equipment and one of heating gas. It also facilitated the delivery of more than 15 truckloads from the United Nations relief program, the World Food program and the Red Cross. More than 4,000 medical evacuations have taken place from Gaza into Israeli hospitals. Since the beginning of the current conflict, some 6,500 tons of aid have been transferred at the request of international organizations.

The situation in Gaza contrasts sharply with that in the West Bank where real progress is being made both in terms of security and economic development. Forced out of Gaza by Hamas, Palestinian leaders Abu Mazen and Sallam Fayad eschew terrorism. Israel looks forward to the possibility of engaging with them in credible negotiations toward peace and security in the near future.

So, we pray and tirelessly strive for a day when suffering will be known no more by all peoples of this troubled region. The long-term answer to this situation is for Hamas to lay down its weapons, recognize Israel, and participate with the Palestinian Authority in negotiating a two-state solution -- two states for two peoples living side by side in peace and security. Israel has demonstrated time and again that it will embrace any genuine opportunity to achieve peace with its neighbors, and that remains the case today.

Laurie Tishler Mindlin,
Executive Director