The air raid sirens in Ashkelon sometimes seem to never end. Rami Safon discovered to take them all seriously.
“There were about 10 sirens so I decided to leave our safe room for a coffee, but my wife pulled me back.”
A rocket struck their sixth-floor apartment, causing extensive damage. The impact blew a hole in the balcony and shattered glass from the front picture window to the kitchen cabinets in the rear.
The rocket fire from nearby Gaza is haphazard and non-discriminatory. Remarkably, Rami’s apartment is the sole one struck in this cluster of modern high-rises in an Ashkelon neighborhood.
A drive through other areas reveals the effects on a few additional blocks. The city of Ashkelon, with a population of nearly 150,000, has seen over two-thirds of its residents leaving. In this charming coastal city in southern Israel, about half of the population, including Rami’s family, hails from Russia and former Soviet-bloc states.
When asked about the fatalities and destruction on the other side of the border in Gaza, Rami’s voice takes on a more stern tone.
“Of course I am very sorry. Unfortunately, the war inflicted on us cannot be fought with silk gloves. Hamas is the new ISIS.”