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Inside Israel

'We're worse off than refugees'

Thousands suffer in northern Israel bomb shelters


By Ryan Jones
August 08, 2006

Thousands of Israelis continue to suffer in cramped and stuffy bomb shelters across northern Israel, their plight almost completely ignored by an international community seemingly obsessed with the current hardships of Lebanese civilians.

Nowhere is the situation worse than in the Hula Valley town of Kiryat Shmona, which as been pummeled by more than 700 Hizb'allah rockets since July 12. Most of the town's population has fled, though many remain, primarily the elderly, sick and poor.

During the opening days of the conflict, rocket attacks were few and far enough between to risk frequent excursions into the fresh air, but a recent escalation by Hizb'allah had made that practice all but impossible now. Kiryat Shmona was hit by more than 30 rockets on both Saturday and Sunday.

Rachel Ben-Sheetrit and her crippled husband survive with their six children on government welfare, and so are unable to relocate to for weeks on end to hotels and otheraccommodations in Israel's central and southern regions. She told the Associated Press:

"Soon they will have to send us to the madhouse because we are all losing our minds."

Even many of those who were initially able to escape the north are now returning, their funds having run dry as the war drags on longer than many had expected. They are expressing great fear at reentering a town under siege with their children, and many are returning to homes that have sustained direct rocket hits.

Another resident, Tamar Ashtankar, said:

"We're worse off than refugees. At least refugees are looked after, nobody cares about us."

Daily scenes from the mainstream media confirm that assessment, as Israelis watch the UN engage in a mass concerted effort to relieve the suffering of Lebanese civilians. The residents of northern Israel, meanwhile, have received no humanitarian aid whatsoever.

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