By Marn
ey Blom
For the first time since the Gulf War an air-raid siren sounded in Tel Aviv yesterday. Residents of Israel’s largest metropolitan area – with an estimated population of 1.3-million people – ran to bomb shelters and protected spaces, safe areas that haven’t been in use for more than 20 years.
Deadly projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip – situated south of Tel Aviv – were limited to a firing range of 40 kms, leaving Tel Aviv safely out of Hamas’ reach. With the introduction of the Iranian built Fajr-5 rockets, Tel Aviv and central Israel are now within it’s 75 km firing range.
According to IDF Spokesperson Lt.-Col. Avital Leibovich, Fajr-5 rocket launching sites in the Gaza Strip were one of the primary targets of Wednesday’s Operation Pillar of Defense military campaign.
“We caused severe damage to the Fajr-5 capabilities but we can’t confirm if we have taken out all the Fajr-5 launching sites,” said Leibovitch during a conference call to the foreign media last night.
A desperate phone call from a friend who was on the ninth floor of a large institution in Tel Aviv when the siren sounded revealed the fear that has struck residents of the city as they scrambled to find the closest safe area.
What? Now Tel Aviv? No one was expecting that.
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