On the fourth day of the war declared by Israel against Hamas and the siege of the Gaza Strip, dismay, solidarity and consternation mixed in the streets of Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Indignation is even giving way to anger among some residents, while more than a hundred Israeli hostages are being held on the Palestinian territory.
If the sun shines on Tel Aviv, the city, whose streets are usually as crowded as the beaches, is deserted. Residents attempt a semblance of normalcy in the few restaurants and cafes open in the young and trendy Florentin district, but their calm is quickly interrupted in the afternoon by three alarm sirens.
The moment is particularly striking a few steps from a ruined building, one of those destroyed by rockets launched by Hamas into Israeli territory last weekend.
Two young women met Tuesday by The duty in front of the rubble caused by one of Sunday’s rocket attacks recount a “traumatic” experience.
“I live right there,” says Flora, pointing to a damaged building, who prefers to keep her real first name quiet for fear that her name will circulate in the media while people she knows are still among those missing. Like other residents of this town located less than 75 kilometers north of the Gaza Strip, she lives in fear of further attacks.
His building, located barely 200 meters from the impact, contains anti-missile shelters on each floor. “We heard a huge boom while we were in the shelter and the building shook,” she said.
From her balcony, she could see the ambulances following one another in the streets, and their staff helping the injured. “We are used to alarms, rockets, but this time it is different,” says Flora. “It’s extremely traumatic. I know three people who died at this music festival, said the young woman, a sob in her voice. We are dealing with terrorists. »
Tension and fear remain omnipresent in Tel Aviv, subject to constant surveillance by Israeli forces. After a rocket warning siren, a young man preferring to keep his identity quiet for security reasons takes his place inside the restaurant where he found refuge with his girlfriend, who is Dutch. “I hope that one day, our two peoples will find peace, that there will be an end to hostilities,” he says, even if his look and gestures suggest that he does not really believe in it.
“I fought in the Yom Kippur War”
Another warning siren is heard, but this time, everyone does not flinch. The Telavivians are used to it and have seen others, says Mair, not without laughing. “I fought in the 1973 war, I have already seen a lot in my life. » The rockets don’t scare him, a feeling he’s not the only one to feel.
The 72-year-old bumps his leg, still laughing. It is made of wood, he says, a sad reminder of the Yom Kippur War, which pitted Israel against a military coalition led by Syria and Egypt. This is the war that many use as a comparison to the one raging at the moment.
But the laughter is short-lived as another warning siren – the second in the space of fifteen minutes – is heard. Passersby who dared to venture outside rush into buildings, restaurants or any other open business. “I leave it to God,” explains Mair, while lamenting that the region never finds peace.
“I’m shocked, I’ve never seen a rocket fall so close to us before Saturday evening,” says, worried, Maya Doman, a mother of two young children who lives in the neighborhood.
A new relationship between Palestinians and Israelis?
Do recent events risk marking a rupture between populations?
“I hope not,” says Maya Doman. But she knows that the situation is already tense between the two peoples. His wish is that the population distinguishes the wheat from the chaff, the politician from the population. Her youngest is reluctant, she leaves, while wishing for a rapid resolution, and in the direction of peace, to this war.
For Ari Benarouche, a native of Israel who spent a few years in France before returning to Tel Aviv, there is no way back. Met in a café, he does not want to say too much: “You have seen the images,” he says to explain his anger.
“We always gave them water, electricity, work at home, food. Everything that other countries, their brothers, do not do. And there, what they give us back…” he said, dismayed, without finishing his sentence. “We see the people we are dealing with,” breathes Mr. Benarouche. What they did was like ISIS, and even worse. »
The Gaza Strip has been subject to an economic blockade since 2007, but several residents met in Tel Aviv repeat that Israel helps the inhabitants there. The incursion of Palestinian militants into Israeli territory, the taking of hostages and the civilians killed are therefore perceived by many Israelis as a “betrayal”. “They will regret it, and for a long time,” said Mr. Benarouche, for whom solidarity with the Palestinians is no longer possible.