TEL AVIV // For Aryeh Lazar, it was nothing short of a miracle.
On Wednesday, Mr Lazar was playing with his three small children in the living room of their home in southern Israel when a community-wide rocket alert system sounded. Just seconds after he rushed his children into a bomb shelter, a missile slammed into the two-storey house, whizzed through the living room and bored a gaping hole through the wall before landing in the bathroom.
Mr Lazar, a 38-year-old engineer, still sounded shaken as he described his family's narrow escape from the attack as a "Hanukkah miracle", referring to the holiday celebrated by Jews this week.
But the ordeal left him angry.
"We're showing weakness to the enemy - and the government isn't doing anything," he said. "We're living in a reality of war, and we need to act and show force."
Like Mr Lazar, a growing number of Israelis living in southern Israeli communities, which serve as frequent targets of rocket fire by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, are calling on their government to take more aggressive action against the increasing salvoes.
Militants in the impoverished territory of 1.5 million Palestinians that is ruled by the Islamic group Hamas have pelted dozens of rockets and mortars at Israel since an Egyptian-brokered, six-month-old ceasefire with the Jewish state expired a week ago.
The rocket fire, which has so far caused no injuries in Israel but sowed panic among those living near the Gaza border, came as Israel launched a series of air strikes in Gaza and closed off its border crossings with the territory, leading aid groups to run out of food and other basic supplies upon which many Gazans rely.
Israel insists it has so far exercised restraint in the face of the escalating rocket attacks and has been reluctant to press ahead with an all-out assault liable to exact heavy casualties on both sides.
So far, more Israelis than not agree. A poll published by the left-wing Haaretz newspaper yesterday showed that while 40 per cent of Israelis would support an aggressive campaign, some 46 per cent would still oppose such action because it could claim soldiers' lives. However, the paper said the number of supporters would have been greater had the survey been taken on Wednesday night, after militants fired the biggest one-day rocket barrages at Israel in at least six months to avenge Israel's killing of three Hamas fighters.
Meanwhile, despair is mounting in Israeli communities that are bearing the brunt of the rocket fire. Daniel Dahan, a supermarket owner in the town of Sderot, a community of 20,000 people some two kilometres from Gaza, said he feels "humiliated" that Israel, with its advanced army and technology, cannot halt the attacks.
"We look like cowards," he said. He added he would support Israeli action, including a large military operation or the assassinations of Hamas leaders, even if it means that Sderot will temporarily be bombarded by Gaza rockets. "If I need to go into a bomb shelter for two months so that the state will do its job, I'm prepared for it."
Many politicians are also demanding a fiercer Israeli response. The two top contenders in the race for the premiership, an election which will take place on Feb 10, have both urged Israel to launch an offensive against Gaza militants and have pledged to topple Hamas rule in the tiny enclave if elected.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud party that is leading in the polls, said he does not "know one country that would absorb so many rockets and not do anything". He added that Israel should attack "in order to rehabilitate its national pride".
Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister and the head of the centrist Kadima party, yesterday said during a visit in Cairo that "enough is enough - the situation is going to change". Ms Livni, who spoke after talks with Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, on the Gaza escalation, said that the more than 70 missiles fired on Israel on Wednesday had been "unbearable" for the country.
Indeed, the pressure for an assault appears to be working. Ehud Olmert, the outgoing prime minister, on Wednesday convened his security cabinet which, Israeli media reported, approved a large-scale, primarily aerial military operation in Gaza.
Ehud Barak, the defence minister, yesterday warned that "whoever hurts the civilians and soldiers of Israel will pay a heavy price", though he declined to elaborate on the army's plans.
The growing calls for aggression drowned out the lone voices calling for dialogue.
Chaim Oron, head of Meretz, the most left-wing of Israel's Jewish parties, said the government should conduct talks with Hamas - an unlikely scenario since Israel refuses to deal with the group directly.
"A focused negotiation on a ceasefire, as much as it is fragile and not a long-term solution, is better than an exchange of mutual blows that will only get worse," he was quoted on a popular news website as saying.
vbekker@thenational.ae
START-UPS%20IN%20BATCH%204%20OF%20SANABIL%20500'S%20ACCELERATOR%20PROGRAMME
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
FIGHT%20CARD
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
The%20specs
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The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
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Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,600hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.4seconds
0-200kph in 5.8 seconds
0-300kph in 12.1 seconds
Top speed: 440kph
Price: Dh13,200,000
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,500hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.3 seconds
0-200kph in 5.5 seconds
0-300kph in 11.8 seconds
Top speed: 350kph
Price: Dh13,600,000
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
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Available: Now
