Israeli border towns empty as residents seek safer ground

With deadly fighting raging next door in the Gaza Strip, southern Israeli towns along the border turn into mini army bases as most residents seek safety in central and northern Israel.

Those left behind say they are long inured to near-daily salvos of rocket fire from Gaza but newly discovered tunnels that have been dug by Islamic militants nearby have them spooked.

“It’s changed our viewpoint entirely. The rockets we somehow got used to. This is something else. They are under our homes,” says Ofra Benudiz, a 52-year-old mother of four in Nir Am, a kibbutz near Sderot. “Our greatest fear is that they will infiltrate.”

Most of Nir Am’s 350 residents had already been relocated to safer areas, as happened in two previous wars with Hamas in Gaza, kibbutz spokesman Ofer Liberman said. Those remaining were shocked as Israeli troops entered the agricultural community in full combat gear fearing that gunmen had sneaked inside.

Soldiers have taken over communal areas, ready to act in case of emergency. The sunflower and avocado fields have become staging grounds for troops going in and out of Gaza, with jeeps and tanks kicking up sandstorms as the smoke from the Gaza bombings wafts close by.

The army often orders residents to stay in their homes, mortar shells and rockets have been raining down and sounds of outgoing Israeli artillery fire makes it almost impossible to sleep at night, residents say.

“This is no place for children now. They don’t need these traumas,” said Liberman, 53, who has four daughters of his own.

Liberman said residents felt fortunate that the military was around in such large numbers to protect them when Monday’s infiltration took place.

After years of living under the threat of rocket fire, he and others in the border area were among the most vociferous advocates for a strong Israeli military move against Gaza terrorists. Despite the current discomfort, he said he hoped the military would finish the job.

“My realistic hope is that this will give us 10 years of quiet, because I know it won’t give us 40 and I’m tired of it only giving us two,” he said, as he fielded phone calls from volunteer organizations offering to host families and deliver goods. “Finally the state of Israel has put this at the top of its priorities.”

The local regional council covering about a dozen communities says more than 50 percent of its 8,000 residents are now elsewhere, with the numbers as high as 80 percent in those that straddle the border with Gaza. Those with families have mostly left and only the elderly and essential members like security officials and those caring for the dairy farms and livestock have stayed.

— AP