By Til Biermann
The streets are empty. It is eerily quiet in Ashkelon, 20 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.
Four days after the Hamas terror that left 1,200 dead, no shop is open and hardly anyone is on the streets. Israel is at war, Ashkelon is a ghost town.
How does everyday life work when nothing is normal anymore? BZ answers 8 questions about everyday war life.
► Do Israel’s children go to school?
Schools are closed, as are restaurants and most shops. Only grocery stores are open. Everyday life takes place in underground bunkers: children play there, families have brought mattresses with them. Poor Israelis in particular who do not have their own shelter set up here.
► Who else goes to work?
Only people who are important for maintaining the infrastructure. Like nurse Viktoria (40): “Many old people don’t have shelter. They hide in cupboards, under tables when the missile alarm goes off. Everyone here knows someone who has been murdered or kidnapped.”
All about: Nurse Viktoria (40) on the way home from work Photo: Ralf Guenther
► Are there any problems with supply?
The government advised the population to stock up three days in advance. Water and bread were initially scarce, but now the shelves are well stocked again.
Quickly to the supermarket and back again: Yoni and Tamar (50) Photo: Ralf Guenther
► Are there still terrorists in the country?
It is unclear whether murderers are still hiding in the country. “Yesterday two terrorists came into the city again on paragliders,” tells us Tamar (50), who is buying groceries in the supermarket. “Luckily our army was able to kill them.”
► How is the mobilization of the reservists going?
300,000 soldiers in the reserve have left their jobs and some have arrived from abroad. Now they are waiting in hotels on the Gaza Strip to be deployed.
► How often and where is there an air alert?
Again and again, all over the country. Example Ashkelon, 5 p.m.: Hamas has announced rockets, and the sirens sound on time. Neighbors run into the public bunkers and help each other down the stairs. A bullet hits the “Regina” hotel at the harbor and a car burns out. Nobody gets hurt.
A woman didn’t make it into the bunker when the alarm went off Photo: Ralf Günther
► How do the hospitals work?
The Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv has moved patients to an underground emergency hospital, and at Tel Hashomer Hospital the premature baby ward and children’s intensive care unit are now underground.
► Are planes still flying despite rocket fire?
Half of the flights at Ben Gurion Airport were canceled. Many airlines no longer fly to the country. After all: Lufthansa wants to fly out stranded Germans on special flights today and tomorrow.