Steve Kramer: Visiting the Gaza Envelope
My readers are quite aware of the heinous attack 13+ months ago (1,200 Israeli fatalities, many wounded, and the kidnapping of 251 others, dead and alive) which is dramatically changing the Middle East. Long before the October 7, 2023 catastrophe along Israel’s southern border, Israel was threatened and often rocketed by Hamas in Israel’s south. In the north, it was relatively quiet after a war in the summer of 2006 with Hezbollah. Both terrorist-controlled states were supported by Israel’s arch enemy Iran, whose undying goal is to eliminate Israel.
Despite unrelenting strikes from those two enemies, plus attacks from Iranian proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran itself, Israel is winning this existential war. Israel has nearly destroyed Hamas and is close to forcing Hezbollah above the Litani River, to a relatively safe distance from Israeli border-line communities. While hostilities continue on both fronts, with the election of the Trump team a reasonable conclusion to this very long war may occur in the near future. If so, Israel will achieve two war aims – to nearly eradicate Hamas and to greatly reduce Hezbollah’s potency. In Gaza, Israel’s control over the Philadelphi corridor at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt would starve the remaining Hamas fighters of weapons, while in southern Lebanon a miles-wide buffer zone would allow the 60-80,000 displaced residents of Israel’s north to return to their homes.
The third Israeli goal, one that seems impervious to IDF barrages, is returning all of the Israeli captives, dead or alive. Hamas doesn’t care how long the war lasts or how many Gazans die. Unfortunately, dead Gazans are a plus for Hamas to elicit Western governments’ sympathy. After all this time, Israel doesn’t know the captives’ whereabouts, nor do the “peaceful Gazan civilians” show any sign of turning them in revealing those who are keeping the captives imprisoned. (Not even $ millions for information about hostage locations has had any effect.)
This is Israel’s position today. Recently we followed in the footsteps of many Israelis and traveled south to the “Gaza envelope” (the area of Jewish communities adjacent to the border). We were on one of two buses sponsored by the ESRA organization (esra.org.il) going to the area where 1,269 Israelis (and some others) were killed, thousands were wounded, and 250+ were kidnapped. In addition to our bus there were many other busses and private cars visiting the area.
The first experience we encountered was soon after leaving the Tel Aviv area. Sirens blared and everyone’s mobile phones lit up with the warning to seek shelter, The bus driver immediately pulled over and we all quickly exited. Following the general instructions, we quickly lay down on our stomachs on the ground, away from the bus with our hands “protecting” our heads. After about 10 minutes with no further warnings, we resumed our journey. (The 10-minute rule is to avoid being injured by falling debris from the intercepted rockets).
Further on the way to the Gaza envelope, we stopped at a gas station/cafe. There we saw the first of many fortified shelters in the south, many doubling as bus stops. (Below,
there’s a story to tell about one particular shelter.) The first stop was at the most prominent killing field, the site of the music festival. Our excellent guide, Ron Stern ([email protected]), explained the setup of the Nova Music Festival to us. There was the campsite of the 4,400 festival goers, many of whom called themselves the Tribe of Nova or Bringers of Life. About 364 of the 1,269 dead that day were attending the festival. Other fatalities were male and female soldiers, police, nearby foreign agricultural workers, and Gaza envelope community members.
Ron explained much about the participants at the festival, ranging from hippie types to spiritual ones. The festival area is now “populated” by hundreds of picture posters and other information about the murdered festival attendees. Each poster there and at the other sites we visited had a QR code signifying a website with information about the unfortunate victim(s) pictured. You can imagine how disturbing it was walking among the pictures and paraphernalia of those who were killed at the festival, or those trying to escape, by car or on foot. I have included some of the websites of those murdered that day. Learn more about these unfortunate persons, overwhelmingly young, who were slaughtered that day.
An atypical story, is about Erick Peretz and his daughter Ruth. Ruth was confined to a wheelchair from an early age with cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy. Erick and Ruth were well known at many events (where they entered for free) because of Erick’s determination that his daughter wouldn’t miss out on any of the events that others of a similar age were attending. He took her everywhere.
Unfortunately, the two of them, just like hundreds of others, were brutally slaughtered to satisfy the blood lust of the terrorists, who swooped down on the event mostly in pickup trucks and other vehicles, including hang gliders. (https://nypost.com/2023/10/18/bodies-of-erick-ruth-peretz-found-after-hamas-festival-massacre/)
On the way to the “Car Cemetery”, we stopped to see the Migunit (bomb shelter) at Re’im, where many young festival goers were murdered. “As Hamas militants began to lob grenades into the bunker, Avner Shapira threw out the first 7 grenades before they exploded. After Avner was killed, Hersh Goldberg-Polin [an American-Israeli citizen] rushed to throw more out, before his arm was blown off from the elbow down, according to a firsthand account from his friend. When the gunfire settled, Goldberg-Polin was forcibly taken by Hamas gunmen. That was the last time his friend saw him.” (https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/01/middleeast/israel-gaza-hostage-polin-goldberg-profile-intl-hnk)
Goldberg-Polin was murdered on or about September 1, 2024, when the Hamas military leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed after fleeing his hideout in a tunnel. It’s thought that Goldberg-Polin and five others were hostages surrounding Sinwar, supposedly to protect him.
At the haunting “Car Cemetery”, we saw hundreds of destroyed automobiles, burnt and riddled with bullets, which had originally been found all over the festival grounds and the nearby road … a surrealistic site. There were cars of the festival-goers, cars of heroes who rushed there to save Israelis, pickup trucks of the terrorists, ambulances, a minibus, and more. Other stories: https://dialogue-landing.co.il/?page_id=6824
https://dialogue-landing.co.il/?page_id=6596
https://dialogue-landing.co.il/?page_id=6625
https://dialogue-landing.co.il/?page_id=6824
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-angel-on-earth-who-saved-750-lives-in-the-october-7-massacre/
After leaving the wrecked cars behind, we stopped at a relatively ramshackle roadside stand built by the Trabelsy brothers in the religious moshav of Shuva. It supplies snacks, food, and seating areas to serve the soldiers in the vicinity. Everyone working there is a volunteer and everything is donated. I had a chance to talk to two reserve soldiers, adult men with jobs and families. It’s incredibly hard on them to interrupt their lives and report for duty, for weeks and months at a time, to augment the younger (18-22) conscript soldiers.
Our visit concluded with a stop in the town of Sderot, the largest community near Gaza. I hadn’t been there in years and I was astounded at its growth, with many neighborhoods of new apartments and commercial areas. Sapir Academic College, Israel’s largest college, is located there. Our visit was to see the site of the former Police Station which was overrun by terrorists on 10/7. “Hamas militants [TERRORISTS] massacred at least 50 civilians and 20 police officers. During the battle, a minibus of senior citizens was attacked by Hamas militants after a flat tire delayed them. All 13 passengers were killed. In another incident, the Swissa family and an Israeli Arab, Amer Abu Sabila, were killed by militants [TERRORISTS] while trying to escape. Abu Sabila’s bravery sparked discussions about Arab-Jewish coexistence in Israel. By October 8, Israeli forces had regained control over Sderot.” The memorial site included picture plaques with descriptions of all the victims killed there. In all, a total of 52 Israelis died: civilians, police, soldiers, etc., including the 13 killed on the minibus. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sderot)
On the ride home we encountered the usual rush hour(s) traffic. However, in this case, an additional holdup near the Gaza Envelope was caused by scores of trucks returning from Gaza after delivering food supplies to be distributed to the Gazans. For sure, in Gaza, most of the goods will be commandeered by remnants of Hamas to be sold, at outrageous prices, to the “civilians”. Israel is reportedly (Western and Arab outlets) “starving” the Gazan children and adults, with no mention of Hamas.
The war in Gaza is almost over, one of the longest wars in Israel’s history. (Nevertheless, the IDF will continue fighting unorganized Hamas terrorists.) We were woefully unprepared for the surprise attack, but within several weeks the highly resilient IDF was prepared to battle Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both battles are expected to be “finished” (they never really finish) soon, perhaps with President-elect Trump augmenting President Biden’s efforts.
A visit to the Gaza Envelope is mind-boggling and wrenching, even to those of us who have been living in Israel for decades. We’re grateful to have experienced this, although we obviously can only sympathize with the families and friends personally affected. We look forward to another time, soon we hope that these communities will be rehabilitated and the residents are back safely in their homes.
