Reporter’s notebook: under fire on the Gaza border
The sky lit up for a moment and the quiet was shattered by the cries “Tzeva Adom” meaning Colour Red – the sign that there was an incoming rocket attack.
Photo by Kobi Richter/TPS on 12 November, 2018
The sirens wailed and we ran. Fast. There was no real bomb shelter at the gas station next to Kfar Azza, one of the closest points to the Gaza border, so we took cover behind a large concrete building and waited. The booms were loud. They sounded close.
I counted at least six rockets coming up from the side off us. The same thing happened about six times. Like a washing machine. Rinse, Cycle, Repeat.
Minutes later, Israeli fighter jets could be heard and an even louder boom heard. Israel was retaliating. I saw the flash as the air strike hit its target and minutes later retreated.
It went quiet for about half an hour. Peaceful. The sound of nature, jackals howling, crickets and even some birds. The dichotomy of having these two scenes side-by-side. Nature, beauty and the sounds of war in the foreground.
As we relaxed, the sirens sounded again, this time there wasn’t even five seconds to get to cover. One, two, three, four loud booms – all believed to be mortars and they didn’t land too far away as we felt the ground vibrate under us.
Again, quiet. No retaliation this time. But the drones were closer and louder.
Out of nowhere, without even a siren, Iron Dome intercepts an incoming rocket. As we watched, we saw it hit a rocket far in the distance. Then another airstrike by the IDF.
A cat and mouse game that will continue all night.
