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Israeli communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip have lost hope: Just over half a year since the disengagement, and their homes, some of which lie a couple of hundreds of meters from Qassam launch pads, have become a fire zone.
Hundreds of Qassam rockets were fired into these communities in the last few months. Promises of fortified roofs and sealed rooms proved to be nothing but sweet talk.
At the exception of one community, nothing happened.
“We are like geese in fire range,” residents told Isreal’s leading newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth. “No one cares what’s happening here. No one. The state has abandoned us.”
“There isn’t a sealed room for every family. They have put us in a very unpleasant situation. We have to decide who gets a room and who doesn’t. This means who lives and who dies. Just like God,” Avi Kadosh, the kibbutz’ secretary-general said.
Netiv Haasara is the only kibbutz where reinforcement work has been completed. A sealed room has been erected near each house in the community and kindergartens have been fitted with fortified roofs. “Reinforcement is only a tranquilizer. The sound of explosions is impossible to eliminate. Quiet living has long gone. At nights no one leaves home out of fear,” a resident said.
Residents said their children are leaving the community and finding new homes in other cities.
“Many families who rented here have left. We were once considered a much recommended community. Today I barely dare say I live in Netiv.”
