Eyewitness: Israel Under Fire

Islamic Jihad readies a Grad Missile, special delivery

 

A collection of exploded rockets in Sderot, Israel

Suddenly You See a Rocket Flying Toward You -Hagit Riterman
 
    600,000 Israelis live in the Beersheba metropolitan area. Last Monday evening I was driving into Beersheba, listening to a song on the radio. Through the window I noticed a young girl running fast and looking scared, not sure where she was going. Suddenly I saw that all the cars ahead of me had stopped in the middle of the street. Their occupants were getting out and running. I understood - the air raid sirens.

    I ran with the others to take shelter between two buildings. There were women there hugging the concrete walls. Some were crouched down, and one was shaking. Other sat on the ground. 

    Then someone shouted, "Look up!" and I saw them in the sky. Two bright lights, like balls of fire with tails, almost white, flying in an arch in the sky, coming from afar. I thought they were about to land next to us, but the Grad rockets continued to fly and passed over our heads.
    
    We heard explosions...

    [L]ater [we] learned that the Iron Dome missile defense system succeeded in shooting down the two rockets that were aimed at the center of the city. 

    When I saw the two rockets flying in the air, heading towards us, seconds before they passed overhead, I understood so well the fear that people here are now living with. We're not soldiers in wartime, we're the civilian population. And in the middle of an ordinary day, during a routine drive down the street, suddenly you see a rocket flying in your direction. 
(Makor Rishon-Hebrew, 4Nov11)