The Israeli community of Sderot is less than one kilometer from the border fence that separates Israel from The Gaza Strip. The residents of this and other Israeli border communities spend each day – and longer nights – wondering when the next Kassam or Grad rocket will be fired at them from Gaza, a growing count of more than 10,000 rockets fired into Israel over the past twelve years. The shattered remains of many of these killing machines now sit on display racks in the Sderot police station providing a photo-op for reporters and curiosity seekers. People in these Israeli border communities need nerves of steel and a reservoir of determination to live in this war zone.
On an April, 2016 visit to the area, I stood on a hill that offered a panoramic overview of Gaza in the distance, no man’s land in between, and the killing fields below. I must admit that my proximity to Gaza, and the very real threat of snipers, left me feeling a bit uneasy, especially when I was standing on such a prominent and exposed position; however, the fact that it was broad daylight and that the head of security for the region was standing next to me, offered a measure of anxiety relief. The security chief pointed to a tunnel entrance in the distance that was visible to the naked eye and then explained how, only a few months before, 12 heavily- armed Hamas terrorists using darkness as their cover burst out of the tunnel with the killing of as many Israelis as possible their primary goal.
Although their presence was quickly detected by alert Israeli soldiers, the fact that the terrorists were wearing Israeli army fatigues caused some initial confusion. As a result, four Israeli soldiers were killed in the ensuing firefight. The terrorists then tried to drag the bodies of the dead soldiers into
the tunnel, a favorite tactic of Hamas as a means of adding to the agony of loss while denying grieving families the small measure of comfort and closure that comes from giving their loved ones proper funerals and burials. That the terrorists failed in their attempt to compound the families’ anguish this time around, was due to a massive counter- offensive that left all 12 terrorists dead.
Sadly, tunnel warfare has become the new abnormal in Southern Israel.
The security chief told me that the residents of these border communities are today more afraid of tunnels than of rockets. Every sound in the night – real or imagined – robs them of sleep. The fear is that terrorists may be tunneling under their homes or entering their children’s bedrooms. They have good reasons to be fearful:
On April 18, The Israel Defense Forces released a photograph of an attack tunnel found the day before (see Front Page image and full article on the next page):
"The IDF said Monday that the concrete-lined tunnel — some two kilometers long — was found last week adjacent to the southern Gaza Strip. The discovery was kept under wraps by the military censor until Monday...
The IDF has identified the Hamas terror organization as the group behind the tunnel’s construction and maintains it was dug ‘in order to carry out attacks against civilians,’ a spokesperson said, though he would not discuss the specific intelligence that led to that finding.
It is the first such tunnel discovered inside Israeli territory since the end of the war in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014. During that operation, dubbed in Israel as Operation Protective Edge, at least 34 tunnels were discovered and destroyed by Israeli forces, many of them leading into Israeli territory.
The find last week
was made by a private Israeli firm which
may have found
a second cross-
border passageway later Monday...The
firm, not named in
the report, is said to
have been carrying
out scans of land
around a number
of communities
where residents have
complained of hearing
digging noises
beneath their feet.
Following the 2014 operation, Hamas vowed to continue using tunnels and rockets to attack the Jewish state. Speaking at a rally in the Gaza Strip last week, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh again told residents: ‘Our message to the prisoners is a message inked in blood. The rifle and the tunnel are our commitment.’” (Source: The Times of Israel)
But what kind of commitment is this - to the killing of innocent women and children, many of whom are refugees from Africa who end up living in places like Sderot because they can’t afford to live elsewhere in Israel? On the same day I stood on that sun and tear-drenched hill overlooking Gaza, I had lunch with some Ethiopian women and their children. They had prepared the food with funds C4i provides for this and several other after-school facilities in this community.
Their Ethiopian delights, usually rich in hot spices but toned down to suit my delicate western tastes, were still much too hot for my liking. I needed water aplenty to relieve the burning sensation on my tongue and in my throat. But it was all worth it just to look into the eyes of those women and children, hear their laughter, and to realize that, while this may not be the safest place on earth, it is nevertheless a lot better than what they left behind. It is, after all, their home -
where their Jewish hearts really belong, in the land of their forefathers.
I spent a very worthwhile day in Sderot visiting the people and charity works C4i supports there. And I left with a distinct sense that Hamas can continue to dispatch its terrorists through tunnels in the night; it can fire rockets into Israel day after day; and it can continue to squander funds on concrete tunnels, given the never-ending steam of humanitarian aid it receives from foolish western nations. But none of these evil efforts will succeed in driving the Children of Israel out of the land God gave them by covenant promises, and to which they have returned from the ends of the earth. I know because God has – and will - keep all His promises to them because He is the greatest of all covenant keepers!
I know also because I have looked into the eyes of new Israelis, and deeper into the resilience that rests in all Israeli hearts. The Jewish people have already survived centuries of evil attacks and hardship. They remain God’s chosen nation with a promised future that is brighter than their past.
Now, at least, they are back in a Promised Land called Israel, this after 1878 years of wandering as refugees among the nations (A.D. 70 -1948). Surely they can survive just a little bit longer until Messiah comes and justice finally prevails in the world. They will certainly do so as long as the sun shines by day and the moon and the stars by night. Why! Because God has guaranteed their survival - against all odds! (Jeremiah 31: 35, 36).
