Woken up by the wails of sirens and the noise of a massive explosion above her Tel Aviv home, London-born Anna Kingsley describes her experience of the last few hours in Israel.
It was around 6am this morning when she jumped out of bed and ran to the stairwell of her building.
‘Like most Israelis, I don’t have a safe room, or a bomb shelter, or anywhere to go, she said.
‘When missiles strike, we’re advised to keep away from windows in case the glass caves in, and to go into the stairwell, as this is usually the strongest part of the building. However, my stairwell has a glass roof which is also broken too.
‘There’s a tiny basement in our building but it has giant cockroaches in and smells of rats and damp so residents don’t go down there.’
The South West Londoner, who moved to Israel ten years ago, added:
‘I didn’t have time to take my phone with me as was asleep in bed, so I had no idea what was happening. But having lived here for a few years now, and through previous wars, I realised we were under attack.
‘Every time I thought the coast was clear and I could go back to bed there were more booms overhead. About an hour later, after I had finally got back to bed, I was woken up again by a loud boom. This time I didn’t even hear the sirens, which in some way is worse, as then you’re next to the window.
‘The air raid sirens are eerie. They sound like the sirens from WW2 that you’ve heard in the old films. Many Televivians, including myself, have slight PTSD when they hear the sound of e.g. a motorbike starting up as we think it’s a siren. This is after our experience of living in Tel Aviv during the Gaza War in 2014.’
‘When I later got up there were loads of messages from friends – expressing all kinds of emotions, including what I feel. Anger at the government, concern that our intel has failed and generally in shock and utter disbelief that something on this scale could happen.’
As for the current situation, Ms Kingsley tells Metro.co.uk: ‘there’s still a lot of confusion. I wanted to explain what was happening to my friends and relatives outside Israel who were enquiring if I was safe, but I was still trying to get to the bottom of the situation, which was unravelling minute to minute. And so I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to spread fake news.’
‘We’ve been told they’re [Hamas militants] descending on the centre (i.e. where I live) and have already kidnapped a few Israelis in this way. I now feel a real prisoner in my own home and am getting more nervous. There are currently helicopters overhead too.’
‘I can’t go out, but luckily I have some food. I just don’t know what will happen during the next few days, so it’s worrying. I’m upset and concerned for people I know who’ve been called up to the army. One of my friends’ brother-in-law was murdered in the attack this morning. We’re a tiny country, which is very densely populated, so many people know someone who’s been personally affected when such attacks occurs.’
For now, Ms Kingsley is sitting tight, having been ordered by the Home Command to stay in her house.
‘This is hard for me personally, as I live on my own and am already going stir crazy. Usually Tel Aviv streets are noisy and very lively on weekends. Now the roads are silent.
‘Nobody is outside and we’re all feeling a bit under siege. I can hear a pin drop, which is very unusual around here. Currently, I feel it’s the calm before the storm (from another barrage in Israel) and really want to go outside, but I know it’s too risky. I just don’t know how many days/weeks this will go on for.
‘Friends have been summoned back to the army and I’m extremely concerned about them as we simply do not know what is going to happen.’
She added: ‘Most Israelis, including myself, just want to live in peace with our Arab neighbours. I’ve personally done a lot of charity work on the ground and with children from Gaza and other neighbouring Palestinian territories.
‘I’m deeply saddened by attacks, I just want us to live in peace.
‘In reality there is co-existance on the ground, but at times like this it all disappears and there’s so much mistrust.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
from News – Metro https://ift.tt/6yeIFxZ
0 Comments