A Zimbabwean living in Tel Aviv says the situation is tense in Israel as the country continues to engage in skirmishes with Hamas militants amid reports that over 1,000 people have so far been killed in the outright war, which started Saturday.
Vivian Nomalanga Bhebhe, who has lived and worked a general worker in the city since 2017, says foreigners living in the country are shocked about the war.
According to Reuters, 700 Israelis and at least 370 Palestinians have been killed, including children and women. About 2,000 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
Ms. Bhebhe says the Hamas attack surprised people in cities like Sderot, where the militants massacred people attending a music concert while others were still in bed.
“The residents in those towns it seems were asleep when those people came in. I believe it was before sunrise. It seems like when they woke up these people (Hamas) were knocking at their doors and those that are unlucky to have opened (doors) were just shot. Some of them were killed while they were jogging and others stretching up at parks. They were taken by surprise, shot and killed by Hamas.”
She says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau’s government has urged people to stay in doors.
“Right now, we have been told to stay at home because the Israeli defence forces will be doing a counter attack this evening, if not this night or tomorrow morning. So, we have been told to stay indoors. We don’t know what’s going to happen after Israel has attacked that side. Maybe they would want to retaliate also after the attack. The situation is just tense. We couldn’t go to work because those people (Hamas), it’s not only the rockets this time … They infiltrated by coming into the country. Right now the government doesn’t know how many of them are inside Israeli cities as we speak right now. They are trying to keep us safe.”
Ms. Bhebhe says it’s too scary to go to work.
“What I have heard is that in 2014 these people (Hamas) almost did the same and they were killing people, planting bombs inside buses, inside trains. So, I think the government is trying to minimize casualties and the damage. And that’s why they want us to stay at home until they apprehend all the infiltrators or until they are sure that they have caught most of them.
“It’s scary to take a bus or train to work. Remember these people look the same. It’s only them (Hamas) who know that this is an Arab and this is a Jew. But to us Africans they look the same. So, you wouldn’t know when you are in a bus whether you are with one of them (Hamas) or not. So it’s not easy. We will know that we are safe when the government says so but for now it’s just scary.
Ms. Bhebhe says rockets are not raining on Israel.
“Since the Israeli Defence Force was caught by surprise yesterday, the bomb shelters were locked just praying that we will be safe at home, trusting the iron domes to do the job. As bad as it is, I think if you decide to follow the rules, stay at home, you will be safe because it’s not like you go there and a rocket hits you, no. There are iron domes that are doing a good job so far. So, yes, it’s happening, they are hitting some buildings here and there but not that they are raining on buildings because the iron domes are working. I think as long as we stay in doors, then it’s safe that way. The problem is just going out and not knowing who you gonna meet out, who is out at the moment.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Israel's Iron Dome defense system is a land-based system that intercepts and destroys short-range rockets and mortars”.
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