“Our life has stopped.” Johana, 35, sums up in one sentence her daily life in Tel Aviv, where she has taken refuge since Sunday with her family. Originally from France, she has lived in Israel for fifteen years, where she got married and had three children, aged 10, 7 and 3. On Sunday, she had to flee from Ashkelon, a few kilometers from the border north of Gaza, with her family. Since the Hamas attack, she has lived “horror, a nightmare from which we never wake up,” she told 20 minutes.
“When you live in Israel, you “get used” to hearing the sirens,” explains the young woman. In the past, we have experienced sometimes very difficult times. But here, what we have known since Saturday, I had never known. Even my husband, who is Israeli, is categorical: no one has ever witnessed a war like this, of this magnitude. “.
“I understood that we were at war”
Friday evening, Johana was in Ashdod [à une vingtaine de kilomètres d’Ashkelon], to celebrate Shabbat with his in-laws. Being very religious, her partner did not take the car and stayed with her children at her mother’s house. “I returned home alone,” the young woman remembers. Around 6 a.m., I started hearing loud noises. It woke me up. In the next few seconds, there was an alarm, then another, and another. They continued, without respite. »
Worried, she turned on her television to try to understand. “The news channels broadcast images and testimonies live. I didn’t realize, it looked like scenes from a movie, it couldn’t be real. Then, I understood: these were not trivial alarms, there were also hostage situations. We were at war. From then on, the rules were clear. Residents of the south of the country were prohibited from leaving their homes. »
But the mother had to go and pick up her partner and her children. “When I came out, there were cables on the road, it was a ghost town, everything was empty. It looked like the setting of “The Walking Dead”. And above all, we felt the tension and fear in the air. »
“We understood that it was something that was going to last”
Once reunited, Johana and her husband decided to leave southern Israel for Tel Aviv, for the “safety” of their family. Initially, they thought about taking a plane to France, as they still had some of their loved ones there. They finally gave up because “the flights were canceled and still are canceled one after the other,” she explains.
“And then, above all, I want to go home to Ashkelon,” says the mother, in a breath of despair. And to continue: “But we understood that it was something that was going to last. In Ashkelon, we hear the explosions all the time to the point where our house shakes. These are things you don’t hear in Tel Aviv. It’s less heavy to be here. Yesterday [mardi], three terrorists had infiltrated a kilometer from our building. » This Wednesday, rocket fire hit a hospital in the city.
“Mom, I’m afraid of war”
“Day by day, it intensifies,” continues the young woman. ” It’s hard. It’s very, very hard, she insists. We can’t go out because we’re afraid of dying in the street. And then everything is closed. We can not do anything. Our life stopped. Our daily life stopped. For children, it is also very hard. My daughter said to me: “Mom, I’m afraid of the alarm, I’m afraid of the war”. She is 7 years old. When her father had to leave for work, she started crying, begging him not to go. »
She adds, her tone serious: “I’m scared too. I’m afraid for my children. I fear for my country. I’m upset, I went back. It’s a nightmare in reality. There are no words to describe these barbaric acts. In Hebrew, there is an expression that says “it is a hole that has been made in the soul”. And it’s truly something that will stay forever. »
In the meantime, she wants to highlight the “magnificent” and “exceptional” mutual assistance of the Israeli people. “I have received several messages from people who offer their accommodation free of charge to residents of southern Israel,” she explains. Many volunteers make donations, prepare meals for the soldiers, and offer free toys for the children. » “There is a little joy in this horror,” she concludes.