Fighting between Israel and Hamas is raging into its sixth day, bringing the death toll on both sides to roughly 1,900, according to The Associated Press. Swampscott native Andrew Jacobson, who has lived in Israel for the last four years, recounted his experiences in Tel Aviv during Saturday’s attack.
At roughly 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Jacobson — like many others in Tel Aviv — was awoken by the sound of sirens alerting him and his friend, with whom he was staying, of an impending rocket attack.
Still in their underwear, Jacobson and his friend ran down the stairwell to take shelter for a few hours before the two went back upstairs, dressed themselves, and left to go to a synagogue when the sirens sounded again, forcing the two to take shelter once more.
“We darted into an old building and jumped over a locked fence into the basement. We stood there for a minute or two, then boom — a huge blast outside. We waited 10 minutes and continued,” Jacobson said. “The sky is shaking here in Tel Aviv.”
At the synagogue, Jacobson said a soldier’s phone rang while he read the Torah. Although the use of technology is typically not permitted on the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day, the soldier was permitted to answer. After informing the rabbi that he had been called for duty, Jacobson said the rabbi blessed the soldier.
“The rabbi put his hands on a soldier’s head. He was wearing a green uniform and the rabbi blessed him, saying that he should go in peace and return in peace. That was one of the most chilling experiences of my life,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson said stories of mutilation, rape, and mass murder spread through the city during an attack that he described as the most atrocious act of violence against Jewish people since the Holocaust. Tel Aviv, Jacobson said, was eerily quiet for the most part, with horrified residents sheltering in basements and a sizable presence of police occasionally running through the street.
Outside one of Jacobson’s favorite cafes lay a memorial for those killed, injured, and abducted since the attacks began Saturday.
“There were a few incidents here on my street a few hours ago. The police pinned somebody down… I was watching from my window, and within a period of two minutes there was a swarm of probably 35 police officers and soldiers on my street here in Tel Aviv,” Jacobson said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s already taking a very personal toll. It’s something impacting every single village, every single town, every single city in the country. I don’t know a single person who has not been personally impacted by the tragedy here in Israel.”
Out of the conflict’s wreckage, Jacobson said his community has adopted an all-for-one mentality. He and his friends began making cookies and warm meals for Israeli soldiers while others gathered supplies, offered their vehicles for the transport of soldiers, and even babysat soldiers’ children.
“The Jewish people were without a state for more than 2,000 years, and that’s what led to our persecution and slaughter at the hands of our enemies for so many years. Now, we have a state, we have a sovereign land, and that’s what makes this atrocity all the more painful,” Jacobson said.
