Yohay Elam

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I hope it doesn’t turn into train coming to run us down…

In the last days, new hope has come and gone. Saturday’s agrrement between USA and France seemed like a good development. Later on, as the violence continued and the proposal was rejected by the Lebanese, new despair came in. It seemed like the negotiations between the USA, France, Arab countries, Israel and others could take forever, especially during the westerners’ summer vacations.

Yesterday, after the Lebanese government took a brave decision to send it’s army down south, things have changed. Countries around the world were happy with this decision. Our PM also referred to it as good development. New hopes.

This decision could be due to many reasons. Its possible that Hizbullah is in a bad situation and wants to finish the war. Hizbullah’s ministers also supported the government’s decision.

I doubt that its true. They still keep firing the same amount of rockets upon us every day. Luckily, since Sunday, no Israeli civilian was killed. I think it was due to good luck, and Sunday’s 15 casualties suffered from very bad luck. In southern Lebanon, the fighting on the ground continues. Every day, the Hizbullah suffers tens of casualties, but also our soldiers are killed on a daily basis.  

Unfortunately for my country, other outcomes of the war are not so pleasing as well. Our might army, with the briliant air force and the hi-tech missiles, has falied (at least in the meantime) to crush the tiny Hizbullah. The small organization’s stand has made Nasrallah a hero in the Arab world and has weakened our might and deterrence. I’m sure this wasn’t the intention of our leaders.

So, I don’t see the Hizbullah losing yet. Nonetheless, I hope that the Israeli government will present this decision as a sign of weakness from the Hizbullah, or a victory for Israel. This is very important for the ISraeli public opinion. Since this has turned into a war of attrition, there won’t be “facts” that will tell who won and who lost. This is not a game of chess. A symbol like this decision by the Lebanese could be presented to the Israelis as a sign of the victory, something that could also allow us to lay down our weapons and remain united.

The decision could also be due to a promise about Shabaa farms. There are talks about handing this tiny territory to the hands of the UN, until the fate of it will be decided. Syria, Israel and most of the world claim that it is occupied Syrian territory while Hizbullah claims it is Lebanese and fights for the sake of releasing it (oh yeah). An Israeli retreat from this land, even if it is handed into the hands of Unifil, could be presented in Lebanon as a great achievement and a victory. Maybe such a promise was given by the international community to Lebanon, something that could motivae Hizbullah to agree to the decision.

Lebanese control of the south of the country is a mutual interest of both the Lebanese patriots (who are pleased that the Lebanese government takes an initiative) and Israel. Maybe it’s good news.

This couldn’t have been done in previous years. Hizbullah was too strong (maybe we weakened it militarily). Sending troops south instead of  “Hizbullah’s resistance” was problematic for Lebanese politicians. Especially when they where supposed to disarm Hizbullah, and thus help Israel. Now, due the messy war, when everything is possible (and destroyed), there is a chance for such a move.

I hope that the beginning of the deployment of the Lebanese army (including reservists) in the south will really happen. This will come hand in hand with an Israeli retreat, so some friends of mine will come home. It should also trigger a ceasefire.

My parents planned on going for a vacation abroad soon. Currently they decided to cancel it. They don’t have any children in the army, and they also don’t have any relatives in the north of the country. Nothing to personally worry about. So why? They just feel like it. They are depressed because of the war. I screamed at them and tried to use logics to explain them why they should go. I told them that I will take a small vacation abroad with my girlfriend. I couldn’t figure out why they preferred sticking their nose to the TV and watch the news instead of taking a break. I found out that they are not alone. Many Israelis cancelled their summer vacations because of the war. Many of these cancellations are due to bad mood and not personal worries.

So maybe the war will be over, so that this Saturday I won’t attend an anti-war protest and I’ll hear that my parents bought a flight ticket…

 

Today was the hardest day of the war in Israel. At noon, arocket hit a gathering of reserve soldiers in a small village near the border. 12 were kkilled, 13 were wounded. This was the deadliest single strike.

In the evening, a rocket attack on the city of Haifa killed at least 3 people. Tens of wounded are currently taken care of in various hospitals. The rockets hit 7 different places. In one place the building collapsed and some people were trapped there. Some the rockets hit Arab neighburhoods in Haifa. Hizbullah stopped distinguishing between Jews and Arabs in Israel. The launching of the rockets was filmed by AP. They were launched from the city of Tyre in Lebanon, in the middle of a residential area.

All in all, about 200 rockets were launched today. The high number of rockets is the average in the last few days. In total, more than 300 rocket landing have been reported. Since Wednesday, there have been scores of civilian casualties every day. The northern border city of Kiryat Shmona is severely damaged, and many people call the government to evacuate it immediately.

Why am writng all this? Many times, the international media focuses on the casualties and destruction in Lebanon, and neglects what happens here. Sure, things are much worse in Lebanon. The total numbers there are much higher. But sometimes people around the world aren’t aware of the  serious damage inflicted on Israel as well.

I hope that this terrible war will finish soon. I will keep attending anti-war protests. Unfortunately, the keys for ending this conflict are in Iran, Syria, France and the USA.

Maybe maybe the upcoming UN resolution will be the beginning of the end.