Tel Aviv Tribune Net correspondents
Occupied Jerusalem- The Israeli home front found itself at stake, on Tuesday, for the first time since the start of the exchange of bombing and fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on October 8, 2023, following the barrage of long-range ballistic missiles launched from Lebanon towards the greater Tel Aviv area.
Before that, sirens sounded repeatedly in more than 100 Israeli towns inhabited by about a million Israelis, in the Haifa and Safed region, the towns of the Upper Galilee, and the settlements of the occupied Syrian Golan, as within 12 hours the launch of dozens of missiles and bomb-laden drones was monitored from Lebanon, and the defense system failed to intercept. Some of them caused damage to property and ignited fires in large areas of forested areas.
Hezbollah’s launch of 10 ballistic missiles at once surprised the Israeli army, which was preparing for a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon, in addition to the confusion caused by the sirens in the center of the country, which prompted about 3 million Israelis to head for shelters and hide in fortified places.
The ballistic missiles – 3 of which were intercepted over Greater Tel Aviv – brought the Israelis back to the reality of the threats posed by Hezbollah’s arsenal, in light of the state of “euphoria” that Israel is experiencing in the wake of the assassination of the party’s Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, with raids carried out by the Israeli Air Force. Last Friday, in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
“Trans-Israel” paralysis
Due to strict military oversight, the Israeli establishment kept secret the locations of the landing of the ballistic missiles that were directed for the first time towards populated areas and deep into Israeli towns, while Hezbollah announced that it had fired “Fadi 4” missile launchers at the “Glilot” base of the Military Intelligence Unit 8200. And at the Mossad headquarters on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
In line with military censorship, the Israeli media reported that the Air Force’s defense system intercepted 3 ballistic missiles, and that fragments of the interceptor missiles fell in several towns north of Tel Aviv, also causing moderate injuries to Israelis and a fire in a forest area.
Shrapnel from the interceptor missiles also caused the closure of Route 6, known as “Crossing Israel,” which witnessed traffic jams and queues of vehicles extending for tens of kilometres, which caused the closure of many roads leading to Tel Aviv and paralyzed the movement of hundreds of thousands of Israelis for several hours, until the completion of the processing of the explosive materials. The missile fragments were removed and the fire that broke out on both sides of the street was extinguished.
This street, which connects the north to the south, witnessed a state of chaos and confusion, even though it is considered a vital transportation artery, especially in times of emergency and war, as the Israeli army uses it to transport military equipment, machinery, and arsenal on the battle fronts.
New restrictions and instructions
The recent Hezbollah ballistic missile attacks forced the Home Front Command of the Israeli army to issue strict instructions to also include the greater Tel Aviv area and Jerusalem, according to which it is prohibited to gather for more than 30 people in open spaces, in addition to prohibiting the gathering of 300 people in closed areas, provided that these strict instructions remain in effect. Effective until next Saturday evening.
The severe restrictions originally imposed on the Upper Galilee, the occupied Golan, West Bank settlements, and Haifa included educational activities in schools, universities, and workplaces, and according to the updated instructions, it is possible to conduct educational activities in places where there is access to a protected space during warnings.
Workplaces may also continue their activities and operational movement in a building or in a place from which there is access to a protected space, provided that activities are prohibited in places where shelters and fortified rooms are not available. It has also been decided to keep seashores closed to the public, while consultations take place in Ben Gurion Airport closed.
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, which falls on Wednesday and Thursday, restrictions will apply to the number of participants in Talmudic services in synagogues, large synagogues and in Buraq Square, where an event entitled “Great Tolerance” was planned, according to what the “Israel Hayom” newspaper reported.
According to the newspaper, the Home Front Command is examining the possibility of allowing the event and Talmudic rituals to be held in the presence of only about 1,000 participants, noting that these Jewish events and holidays, which reach four during the month of October, usually involve hundreds of thousands, whether through Talmudic prayers in Buraq Square or By storming Al-Aqsa Mosque or by the provocative marches of settlers in the Old City of Jerusalem and the march of flags around its walls.
Doubts about the effectiveness of shelters
Amid these developments and threats on the Israeli home front, with Hezbollah expanding the range of fire and starting to launch ballistic missiles, Globes asked whether the public shelters and fortified rooms, the vast majority of which were built in the 1990s, are capable of providing protection for the Israelis.
The newspaper’s correspondent for buildings and real estate affairs, Eric Mirowski, says that after the end of the First Gulf War in 1988, Israel decided to change the security concept of the home front, and moved from a system of public shelters to private shelters or fortified rooms in homes and residential buildings, “however, after more than 30 years since then, it is not certain whether security requirements are still adequate.”
Mirowski pointed out that shelters in residential buildings and fortified rooms in homes have been inaugurated without instructions for their maintenance for many years. The Israeli journalist says, “When there is no need for the shelters, they are not maintained, while the result is that when the day comes when they are needed, problems arise, and most of them “It cannot provide protection to the population.”
