Israelis Suffer In Northern Bomb Shelters
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - The northern Israel town of Kiryat Shmona has been especially hard hit by Hezbollah missile strikes, prompting a large portion of the local population to flee, while many are left to exist in hot, cramped bomb shelters. The AP reported that those who remain are primarily the sick and poor, who are either too weak to travel or cannot afford accommodations in the safer southern regions of the country. In some areas, the incessant Hezbollah barrages have knocked out electricity and telephone lines, forcing the hapless victims to sit in the dark with no means of contacting the outside world. The brief excursions into the fresh air enjoyed during the early days of the conflict have become all but impossible now, after Hezbollah escalated its attacks on Kiryat Shmona in recent weeks. More than 700 rockets have hit the town since July 12. Rachel Ben-Sheetrit says, "Soon they will have to send us to the madhouse because we are all losing our minds." Unlike their more fortunate neighbors, Ben-Sheetrit and her crippled husband survive on welfare and so cannot afford to relocate with their six children to a hotel elsewhere in the country. With the war dragging on longer than most had expected, many of those who were initially able to escape are now returning having run out of funds. But the stuffy, pungent bomb shelters are more than some can bear, or |
