We were officially sick and tired of waiting in that same house. The army and/or politicians needed to make up their minds what they wanted to do.
This night, for some strange reason, we were ordered to leave the house for one night only and guard the logistics rendezvous of Battalion 101. I'm still not sure why we were sent. And it was cold. Really, really cold. It reminded me of our first night in Gaza, but not quite as severe.
Being in Gaza with little to no contact of the outside world we really had no idea what was going on in the rest of the world. What we did know is that the world was angry with us. Big shocker there. We did not know, however, that almost the entire country of Israel and especially the Jewish communities outside of Israel were behind us and supported us. Even the more left wing political groups that normally disapprove of military operations in Gaza were in favor. The question in Israel was not so much "Should we?" as it was "How should we?" Or, more specifically, "How much?" and "How far?"
We did hear, however, that Hezbollah fired missiles at northern Israel from Lebanon. We all groaned when we heard this news. I had always been worried about that. The last thing I wanted was a war on two fronts. The paratroopers especially are the most mobile of all the military units. That meant that if we survived Gaza we would be immediately sent to Lebanon, or at least, to the northern border. We later heard that Hezbollah vehemently denied responsibility for the missile attacks and it didn't happen again. They probably saw what we were doing in Gaza and thought twice about bringing the "Zionist War Machine" back into southern Lebanon. I hope so. That was kind of the idea.
We also received news about our mortar platoon, Platoon 7. Hamas had set up two missile positions on the roof of a school and demanded that the classes remain in session. With at least 35 children beneath, Hamas terrorists commenced firing the Russian-made "Grad" missiles towards Ashkelon, Ashdod, and my apartment.
So what do you do in that situation? My friends sat in their APC and aimed their Keshet-system heavy mortars. They had the missile launchers and their crews targeted. They knew that if they pushed that button, they would probably kill dozens of Palestinian children. But they also knew that if they did NOT push that button, there was a good chance that they would kill dozens of our children. So what did they do?
They pushed the button.
The missile crews were immediately destroyed, the missile threat eliminated, and the lives of at least 35 Palestinian children extinguished in a single moment.
It is still considered an "international incident" of great debate to this day.
It brings to mind a quote by Golda Meir, former prime minister of Israel.
"There will be peace in the Middle East when the Arabs love their own children more than they hate ours."
And just for the record I have the following message to say to Hamas or anyone that is upset with IDF military operations:
WE DO NOT ENJOY KILLING CHILDREN. STOP SHOOTING MISSILES FROM SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS!
It's not a difficult concept.
Are the lives of their children worth bad publicity for the Israeli army? Only they can answer that question.
