The Brazilian journalist couple Airton Gontow, 61 years old from Rio Grande do Sul, and Maria Gontow, 59 years old from Minas Gerais, have been living in Haifa, a city in northern Israel, for two years. He says that this Saturday morning (October 7th) he woke up calmly, enjoyed breakfast with his wife, planned a good day of walking and when he was on the phone with his frightened cousin, he was surprised by the news of the war that was going on in the country began.
Israel and Gaza plunged into conflict again this Saturday (7) after the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas launched a surprise offensive that fired thousands of rockets and infiltrated militants by land, sea and air. The conflict between Israel and Hamas has killed at least 238 people, 40 Israelis and 198 Palestinians.
Gontow says the city is known for its diversity. They are secular, religious or nonreligious Jews, Arabs, Christians or Muslims, Durses and Bahá’ís (Haifa has the largest temple in the world dedicated to this monotheistic Abrahamic religion), as well as students from all over the world (in the city there are two important ones universities around the world) and the LGBTQIA+ population (the city also hosts the second largest LGBTQIA+ parade in Israel).
“Israel woke up to news of the attacks. We are all tense and although we know that the war that started in the south of the country is unlikely to reach here in the north, there is concern.” “Hamas wants to sabotage a possible peace movement between Israel and Saudi Arabia , which could ultimately spread to other Arab countries. The hope for peace is a present feeling with us,” says Gontow, who knows the news about the violence by following the news and receiving various reports.
For him, the most daring attack to date. “There are people in villages who are indoors, in the dark, locked up, talking quietly, seeing terrorists on the streets, some even in their houses. But it is not clear what is really happening, how many people have been kidnapped, where they are or where terrorists go, where, for example, rockets can be fired,” says the journalist, who looks out from the balcony of his house over what is usually a park Place of fun for families and their children, and this Saturday is deserted.
Airton Gontow and Maria Gontow have been living in Haifa, a city in northern Israel, for two years (Photo: Personal Archive) “Usually the noise from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. bothers me and I close the glass door that makes noise.” But Today I looked at the empty playground and it made me incredibly sad. How I wished the children would play there. I would open the window to let the noise of life, love and peace into my living room,” he reports. He said that this Saturday at 5 p.m. local time, some families finally showed up to have fun there.
He and his wife are following the government’s recommendations: not going out on the streets, locking the house and storing water and food in bunkers, emergency shelters that exist in practically all buildings in the city and are located in the couple’s house in one of the rooms . The instruction also consists of being attentive to any alarm.
“At the moment the missiles have not arrived here yet. They are advancing and are already punishing the center of the country. Deaths have also begun on the Palestinian side. The feeling of sadness and powerlessness in the face of violence is already reaching and.” This is devastating us. Hamas is trying to lure Hezbollah, which is based in southern Lebanon (Israel’s northern border), into the war, but analysts say it is difficult for the war to spread there too. But we know that a war can start beyond any detail. “Sometimes an attack can trigger a war that neither of them wants,” says Gontow. “We also feel outrage that the government did not recognize that the planned major attack was imminent. The Israeli security and intelligence forces have failed,” he states.
War
“We are at war,” declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ordering a “broad mobilization of reservists.” “The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,” the president promised in a video message in which he acknowledged that Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, had launched “a surprise criminal attack.”
The surge in violence began with a wave of rockets fired from various points in the Gaza Strip at 6:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m. Brazilian time) this Saturday. Hamas’ armed wing claimed responsibility for the attack and said thousands of projectiles were fired.
Israeli forces responded with airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza and asserted that they were also fighting on Israeli soil, near the Palestinian enclave, against militias that had infiltrated from Gaza by land, sea and air. “There was a combined attack using paragliders,” Israeli army spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said, warning that “something big” was happening.
The Israel Defense Forces reported the activation of sirens in the south of the country, while police urged the population to stay near bomb shelters. According to AFP journalists, sirens were also activated in Jerusalem.
Hamas’ armed wing claimed responsibility for the rocket attack, saying more than 5,000 rockets were fired. “We have decided to put an end to all crimes of the (Israeli) occupation; their time of violence without accountability is over,” the group said. “We announced Operation Al Aqsa Flood and fired more than 5,000 rockets in the first 20minute attack.” Hamas, through a military adviser to the Supreme Leader, has received praise from two of Israel’s archenemies in the region: the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and Iran .
Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip left their homes and moved away from the areas bordering Israel. Men, women and children fled with blankets and food, most of them from the northeastern part of the Palestinian enclave, an AFP journalist confirmed. There are already around 198 dead in Gaza. The escalation of violence provoked numerous international reactions.
(With information from AFP)