What happens when Hezbollah's missile hits the biggest Arab city in Israel?
And a bit about what it was like to fall asleep to sirens and wake up to sirens.
When just about to fall asleep, the red alert notifications went off on my phone by my bed. As I was reading the long list of towns and cities in which families were getting kids out of bed to run for shelter, I heard booms in the distance. A quick message to my community Whatsapp group verified that what I heard were, indeed, interceptions.
For this essay, I need to give you two Hebrew terms so that we can talk about this like English-speaking Israelis (we all use both languages in every sentence):
יירוט — yerut, means interceptions. Yerutim is the plural. L’yaret is to intercept.
נפילה — nefila, for when the rocket/missile/drone hits the ground unimpeded. Nefilot is the plural.
BOOM is instantly recognizable for what it is and it refers to the sound of both yerutim and nefilot. Boomim is the plural.
After having heard a few booms (I think I counted three) and seeing that such a huge area around Haifa (but not IN Haifa) was affected, my adrenaline was surging and I doubted I would be able to fall asleep. My whole family is here (as I described in this article) and everyone but me was fast asleep so they were blissfully unaware of what had just happened. Had they not been here, I likely would have spent the rest of the night, restless, in front of the computer, playing my favourite smartphone game, and keeping up with the minutiae of the night’s events if there were to be more.
Since they were here, I decided it would be best to sleep because I would not likely be able to nap very well with two kids, two dogs, and two adults in my home when I am used to living alone. Turning off all notifications on my phone (not an easy thing for me to do) and calming my adrenaline-infused brain, I fell asleep instantly.
I woke up at about 7 a.m. to the happy noises of energetic children outside my closed bedroom door discovering that they have no school and perhaps will have a class or two by Zoom.
Of course, the first thing I did was check out what I had missed while I slept. Here is what I saw:
And then at 6:30 (Hamifratz refers to the Haifa region)
And 7:00
In all, there were about 115 missiles launched into Israel overnight and early morning.
Most rockets were intercepted but there were a number of nefilot, some of which lit fires and others damaged buildings. So far, the injuries are: three people injured as a result of a direct hit on their home, aged 16, 76 (moderate eye injury), and 77; a 57-year-old man, and a 17-year-old who subsequentlyl died from his injuries when he lost control of his car, apparently from panic upon hearing the siren. There were also cases of anxiety and mild injuries when people rushed for shelter.
Rambam Hospital in Haifa has moved its facilities to the underground shelter hospital prepared for this eventuality. I reported on this here.
Fires
Moreshet in the Galilee. UPDATE later in the day: Videos on TV this evening show that this missile and the fire it caused was a lot worse than it looks in this image.
Kiryat Bialik, just north of Haifa. UPDATE in the evening: Videos on TV news show that here, also, the damage and fires were much worse than this video shows.
You should know that as I was waiting for this video to download, sirens started going off again in the Golan, Upper Galilee, and Hamifratz (Haifa region).
Nazareth
A dairy farm about 1/2-hour drive from Haifa was hit
15 cows were killed.
Nazareth and responses to hitting the largest Arab city in Israel
Israel ישראל writes: Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus, is under attack by Hezbollah. The Israeli town, also known as ‘the Arab capital of Israel,’ has a population that is around 70% Muslim and 30% Christian.
Hen Mazzig writes: How does bombing Nazareth,a city that is 70% Arab and 30% Christian contribute to ‘Free Palestine”? Asking for a friend.
Fares Saeb writes: Sirens in my hometown Isfiya [Druze city]; A direct hit in #Nazareth, the biggest Arab town in #Israel, childhood home of #Jesus (who was a Jew). It seems that Hezbollah terrorists are not satisfied with us, Israli-Arabs, for being Israelis and living in a free democracy. Thank God for the idf and the Iron dome system.
Jonathan Elkhoury writes in response to an Arab commenter: “East of Haifa”- They can’t say Nazareth because they can’t admit they fired at the biggest Arabic city in Israel.
AG writes: At least a few of the hundreds of rockets launched by Hezbollah tonight were targeting Nazareth. A sacred city for Christians and one overwhelming populated by Israeli Arabs. A good reminder of what actual indiscriminate attacks look like.
Here is a curious scene: Arabs in Nazareth taking selfies with a piece of shrapnel that fell from the sky after a yerut. Good thing they stayed inside the ten minutes we are instructed to do after a siren because if it had fallen on someone stupidly outside, well, no words needed.
The only thing I can make out from the voices in the video is the word, ‘inshallah,’ that means ‘God willing.’ If I want to be cynical I could conclude they are saying God willing this will fall on a Jewish city. If I don’t want to go that route, I could conclude they are saying God willing future missiles are like this one and do no damage and cause no injuries.
Me Again
It appears that the target of the first barrage was the military base not far from here. There is a naval base across the street from my house, also a legitimate military target. So why, with all these missiles, were there none targetting Haifa? I can only assume that if Haifa was hit, there would be no doubt that war had been declared. Seems silly; after all, this is most certainly war. But there is a weird logic at play here.
Perhaps pro-Palestinians, those cheering missiles launched at Israel, those hoping Hamas and Hezbollah win this war and defeat the Jews, will scoff at my concerns over the damage and injuries caused by the few nefilot that successfully avoid our Iron Dome. I can already anticipate hate-filled comments of those who will compare the ‘minor’ stuff we are experiencing to the massive impact on Gaza and Lebanon.
It does not make me happy to see all the destruction in Gaza and Lebanon. I dread the images that will come out of Lebanon after the most vicious night we just had — I do not enjoy seeing cities and homes where families once lived lying in heaps of broken cement and furniture. I do not envy the hard work of recovery that faces families and children, those who are not cheering for Israel to be defeated but who, actually, are praying that we defeat those monsters who rule their lives, forcing them to live in fear.
For those who started this, who violated a ceasefire that had been in effect for two decades, I spare no moment of concern. I hate that they raised their children to hate, to grow up to want us dead more than they want to live well, but that is not my doing, not my responsibility.
They cannot forgive us for daring to live on land they claim for Islam, not just daring to live here, but to live here as sovereigns wherein the Muslim citizens of Israel are not the rulers — we pay them no subservience taxes (jizya). And this they cannot bear. That is not my responsibility, not my concern. They call Israel, all of Israel, occupied territory — Tel Aviv, Haifa, all of it. They call it Dar al-Harb and that says it all - ‘harb,’ in Arabic, means ‘war.’
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Thank you for your reporting.
Thanks for the news, it's good to know most of the rockets were intercepted. I've shared the post with some groups in the States on mewe.