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| Emergency Routine in Israel: 30 Seconds to Run for Cover | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| ASHKELON, Israel — The usual crowd had gathered behind the police cordons after a rocket struck the yard of a house in this seaside town in southern Israel on Wednesday: police officers, a bomb disposal squad, neighbors, municipal social workers, reporters and television crews. | ASHKELON, Israel — The usual crowd had gathered behind the police cordons after a rocket struck the yard of a house in this seaside town in southern Israel on Wednesday: police officers, a bomb disposal squad, neighbors, municipal social workers, reporters and television crews. |
| Also present was Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, who brought his Norwegian counterpart, Borge Brende, to get a taste of life under the persistent threat of rockets fired from Gaza. The two diplomats were at a nearby restaurant when the rocket struck, and they rushed to the scene. | Also present was Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, who brought his Norwegian counterpart, Borge Brende, to get a taste of life under the persistent threat of rockets fired from Gaza. The two diplomats were at a nearby restaurant when the rocket struck, and they rushed to the scene. |
| Mr. Lieberman, who earlier called for a ground invasion of Gaza, gave an impromptu statement at curbside, urging Israeli citizens to follow safety instructions. Then he went into the badly damaged house — and at that moment, the telltale white smoke trails of five more rockets cut through the blue sky toward Ashkelon, the second wave of rocket fire in an hour. | |
| “Lie down, flat on the ground!” police officers yelled as sirens wailed. The police officers, the bomb squad, the neighbors, the social workers, the reporters and the television crews all hit the scorching asphalt, baked by the afternoon sun. | “Lie down, flat on the ground!” police officers yelled as sirens wailed. The police officers, the bomb squad, the neighbors, the social workers, the reporters and the television crews all hit the scorching asphalt, baked by the afternoon sun. |
| Within seconds, Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system sent missiles whooshing skyward to intercept the incoming rockets. Five booms overhead signaled five successes. | Within seconds, Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system sent missiles whooshing skyward to intercept the incoming rockets. Five booms overhead signaled five successes. |
| This is what is known in Israel’s southern cities and communities as “emergency routine”: day-to-day life punctuated every few hours — and sometimes every few minutes — by sirens and rocket fire. With the Gaza Strip just eight miles to the south, Ashkelon residents get about 30 seconds’ warning to seek shelter. | This is what is known in Israel’s southern cities and communities as “emergency routine”: day-to-day life punctuated every few hours — and sometimes every few minutes — by sirens and rocket fire. With the Gaza Strip just eight miles to the south, Ashkelon residents get about 30 seconds’ warning to seek shelter. |
| After years of intermittent rocket fire, the citizens of southern Israel know the drill, rushing into fortified safe rooms and bomb shelters when the sirens sound. Officials say that that discipline has saved many lives; so has the Iron Dome system, which officials say has headed off about 90 percent of the rockets fired at heavily populated areas. | |
| With the Israeli Air Force pounding targets in Gaza for the ninth day on Wednesday, in the hope of quelling the rocket fire, the death toll on the Palestinian side has risen to at least 205, many of them civilians. But Israel did not suffer its first fatality until Tuesday, though several adults and children have been seriously injured. | |
| The combination of public resilience and the low casualty rate has afforded the Israeli government some leeway in deciding whether to send ground forces into Gaza or to seek a cease-fire. | The combination of public resilience and the low casualty rate has afforded the Israeli government some leeway in deciding whether to send ground forces into Gaza or to seek a cease-fire. |
| “We are not tired,” said Meir Cohen, whose house next door was also damaged by the rocket. “We are ready to continue for another week, two weeks, until their rockets run out.” | “We are not tired,” said Meir Cohen, whose house next door was also damaged by the rocket. “We are ready to continue for another week, two weeks, until their rockets run out.” |
| Mr. Cohen, his wife and a grandson, 14, were uninjured; they had taken cover in their safe room when the first siren went off. “That’s not weakness,” Mr. Cohen said. “That is bravery.” | Mr. Cohen, his wife and a grandson, 14, were uninjured; they had taken cover in their safe room when the first siren went off. “That’s not weakness,” Mr. Cohen said. “That is bravery.” |
| In the next house, Anat Suissa, 17, was alone when the siren went off. Her mother, a pediatrician, was working at the local hospital at the time. Anat also ran into her family’s safe room; when the rocket crashed to the ground, the shock of the blast threw open the room’s door. | In the next house, Anat Suissa, 17, was alone when the siren went off. Her mother, a pediatrician, was working at the local hospital at the time. Anat also ran into her family’s safe room; when the rocket crashed to the ground, the shock of the blast threw open the room’s door. |
| “I heard glass shattering, and understood it was very, very close,” she told reporters afterward. “I came out and saw it was in the yard.” | “I heard glass shattering, and understood it was very, very close,” she told reporters afterward. “I came out and saw it was in the yard.” |
| Neighbors heard her screaming and rushed to comfort her. Later came the Israeli television reporters, who asked for her opinion about what action the government should take. “I am not in a position to say what should be done,” she told them in a trembling voice. “But it is not logical that children and youth here have 30 seconds to run for their lives.” | Neighbors heard her screaming and rushed to comfort her. Later came the Israeli television reporters, who asked for her opinion about what action the government should take. “I am not in a position to say what should be done,” she told them in a trembling voice. “But it is not logical that children and youth here have 30 seconds to run for their lives.” |
| Two days ago, another rocket slammed into an empty lot a few doors down the street. | Two days ago, another rocket slammed into an empty lot a few doors down the street. |
| For the residents of southern Israel, where most of the rocket fire from Gaza is aimed, life is shaped by very particular calculations, like which direction one’s apartment faces — a north-facing apartment is considered less likely to be hit by a rocket from the south. | For the residents of southern Israel, where most of the rocket fire from Gaza is aimed, life is shaped by very particular calculations, like which direction one’s apartment faces — a north-facing apartment is considered less likely to be hit by a rocket from the south. |
| In Ashdod, a port city about 12 miles north of Ashkelon where several rockets struck on Tuesday and Wednesday, most residents either stayed indoors or went about their business with an ear open for sirens and a watchful eye on the sky. | |
| One woman drove to her local store for groceries, even though it was less than a block from her home, and said she left her seatbelt unfastened in case a siren sounded and she had to run for it. Others said they slept fully dressed these days, ready to get up and dash to a communal shelter. | |
| At La Brioche, a corner cafe near a house that was damaged by a rocket the day before, Zack Isaac, 67, a retired electricity company worker, sat outdoors with five friends for their regular Wednesday “parliament.” | At La Brioche, a corner cafe near a house that was damaged by a rocket the day before, Zack Isaac, 67, a retired electricity company worker, sat outdoors with five friends for their regular Wednesday “parliament.” |
| “We called each other and decided to meet anyway,” he said. “If there’s a siren, we’ll go inside.” | “We called each other and decided to meet anyway,” he said. “If there’s a siren, we’ll go inside.” |
| Alex Gadimov, 74, said that what was needed in Gaza was “a root canal, to really finish it off once and for all.” The problem, he said, was how. | |
| Like many people here, Mr. Gadimov was ambivalent about a ground invasion, which would probably cost the lives of Israeli soldiers and of many more civilians in Gaza. “Our grandchildren are in the army,” Mr. Gadimov said, expressing the national dilemma that is also a personal one for many Israelis. | |
| The intensification of the rocket fire over the past two weeks caused summer camps and day care centers to close down, leaving many parents unable to go to work. | The intensification of the rocket fire over the past two weeks caused summer camps and day care centers to close down, leaving many parents unable to go to work. |
| Rotem Vandel, 37, who runs the Beach Bum kiosk at Lido Beach in Ashdod, said he stayed home with his baby daughter for a week. But July is the height of the summer season, so on Wednesday he reopened the kiosk, which sells hot dogs, drinks and ice cream, to clean up and get ready for the weekend. The beach was almost empty and he had no customers, so once the work was done, he decided to take a chance and do some surfing. | Rotem Vandel, 37, who runs the Beach Bum kiosk at Lido Beach in Ashdod, said he stayed home with his baby daughter for a week. But July is the height of the summer season, so on Wednesday he reopened the kiosk, which sells hot dogs, drinks and ice cream, to clean up and get ready for the weekend. The beach was almost empty and he had no customers, so once the work was done, he decided to take a chance and do some surfing. |
| At the equally empty Miami Beach just to the north, lifeguards have built a small makeshift bunker out of concrete slabs in the sand. Marco Ayyash, a surfer who runs the lifeguard station, joked grimly that it could accommodate only four slim people. “Large people,” he said, “will have to remain outside.” | At the equally empty Miami Beach just to the north, lifeguards have built a small makeshift bunker out of concrete slabs in the sand. Marco Ayyash, a surfer who runs the lifeguard station, joked grimly that it could accommodate only four slim people. “Large people,” he said, “will have to remain outside.” |
| As he spoke, three booms reverberated along the coast, from rockets intercepted by Iron Dome. | As he spoke, three booms reverberated along the coast, from rockets intercepted by Iron Dome. |