The towns of Ashdod and Ashkelon, just a stone's throw from Gaza in southern Israel, were the targets of a hail of rockets on October 9 and 10. Two locals told the FRANCE 24 Observers team about the stress of each alert, and how they were able to get to safety.
Hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza since Saturday, with many being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system. But several rockets slipped through the defences, causing damage and casualties in towns like Ashkelon and Ashdod in the south.
Residents of Ashkelon heard sirens, rocket fire and colliding missiles throughout the day on Monday and Tuesday as they rushed to shelters.
‘You always stay close to the shelter room and keep your eyes and ears open’
Moshe is a resident of Ashkelon.
We woke up at 3am from the sound of the alarm. It’s a big, huge sound that shocks you. We got inside the shelter – me, my wife and my ten-year-old daughter. Behind our house there were cars that got hit by the missiles, they burned on fire. And we heard the sounds of the rockets as they fell into the roads, the people, the houses that have no shelters. It’s a very bad sound.
We have to go as fast as we can. We have 30 seconds to go hide in the shelter to be safe. You can’t miss that second. If you are asleep and miss even 15 seconds, it’s very dangerous.
The shelters are like regular rooms but the material is different – it can protect you from missiles. The door is made of iron. From inside, you can hear the sounds of the rockets or bombs. When there is no sound after five minutes you can go out, but you always stay close to the shelter room and keep your eyes and ears open.
All day long, we have alarms. Every hour, we have some rounds of missiles that come and fly to cities in the south as well as in the centre of Israel, in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Ashdod. Ashkelon is suffering a lot from the rockets.
Me and my wife are artists, singers. We perform all over the world. But these days, of course, all our shows are cancelled and our business is closed. Plus, when you go down to the supermarket, there is no food and people are in a panic. Everyone thinks this is going to go on a long, long time.
‘We hear explosions and bombings all the time’
Sarah B. is a resident of Ashdod.
When there's a bombing raid, we find ourselves in shelters, which are actually in buildings, in old houses, in stairwells, in shelters that are open all over the city, shelters that are made a bit like bunkers to protect the population in wartime.
We're supposed to wait a few minutes before going out, so that everything is more or less calm, even if the word calm is not entirely appropriate here.
We hear explosions and bombings all the time. We are always close to the shelters, just in case a siren goes off or there’s rocket fire.
And we’re mobilising. We have a chain of solidarity, we mobilise to bring them clothes, to bring them food, and so on. To make sure they don’t need anything. Because we mustn't forget that our children, first and foremost, are being sent into battle.
Israel’s police force reported on Monday that two civilians had been severely injured in rocket attacks in Ashkelon and Ashdod. In a post on their official X page, they wrote that police forces were working to secure the perimeter and evacuate the injured.
