The long Road 232 to Sderot snakes through rolling hills and fields until it enters from the north of the city. This is one of the only roads into Sderot these days, as the road leading along the border has been closed since the first days of the war. That road usually would be how local residents get to Ashkelon, a quick 10-minute drive.
These days, it’s much longer. For the residents, this is not the main concern. They have been at home for five days, and there are still concerns about terrorist threats in the areas around the city.
Sderot became a huge beating heart of the country after the first days of the war. After terrorists were defeated in the police station, which they attacked on Saturday, the city has changed. Now, it is not just on the front line; military units, first responders, media representatives, and soldiers have all converged here.
This mixed multitude is now festooned around the entrance to the city and one of the community centers. The city has seen this in past wars, but it has changed today. People don’t go out when the sirens stop. All the shops are closed. Some people are leaving, and a city of 30,000 feels deserted.
Unlike the nearby kibbutzim, Sderot was not taken over by the terrorists. Instead, they raided the city, and many terrorists were killed there. Dozens entered the police station and killed police. They were then killed, and the station was destroyed. The police are operating in a new temporary location.
Meanwhile, the city’s residents have braved the hardship. The nearby kibbutzim, some 20 communities along the border, have all been evacuated; about 19,0000 residents have left. Sderot, by contrast, is waiting to see what will happen. Mayor Alon Davidi is defiant and has called for Israel to finally remove the Hamas threat that has plagued the South for so long.
Sderot on Wednesday could be seen as the bulwark on which the tide of Hamas terrorism had broken. It was here that the enemy tried to take over the police station and spread terror. As was evident from driving around the city, however, this has now become a redoubt, a center of strength and unity and volunteerism.
The city has the scars of wars
While the city has the scars of wars, such as impacts from rockets and a destroyed police station, it has all the evidence of a country coming together. Sderot has shown this resolve in the past. During the lead-up to Cast Lead in 2008 and early 2009, the city was bombarded by Qassam rockets. It suffered and felt alone. People fled the city. It was a kind of ghost town then also. There was no Iron Dome air defense system then.
That’s when I first went to Sderot and heard the Red Alert siren. I hid behind cars and crouched on the road in fear of rockets. But we also sang songs as volunteers. I was there in 2008 as part of an organization called Lev Ahad. Today in Sderot, as I was leaving, a new generation of Lev Ahad volunteers was arriving. They were kids in their late teens, and they were coming to do what a previous generation had done: volunteer to help the city.
On the road out of the city, there were choppers flying and fleets of police cars and other security vehicles going back and forth. Along the way, there was a parking lot on the road to Kiryat Gat, where United Hatzalah had set up a temporary headquarters. In the distance, storm clouds gathered, and the sun began to set over the fields. It had a sense of a Tuscan landscape on one side, the golden hour as the sun sets. And it had a sense of foreboding.
As I drove on, toward Route 6, there were police cars at the entrance to Kiryat Gat. One policeman placed his M-4 rifle on the roof of the car, scanning traffic. What did he know that I didn’t know? Was there a terrorist threat behind me?
This sense of unease is now everywhere. But so is the sense of Israeli strength. Long lines of military vehicles were streaming toward the South, including jeeps, old M113s, and every possible menagerie of military hardware.
On Route 6, the radio announced sirens going off in the North due to fear of drone infiltrations. It would later turn out to be a false alarm. Nevertheless, the sense of a growing war was over the highway as darkness set in. How long would it be until reaching Route 3, I wondered. How long until Jerusalem?
I wished to be back in Sderot then, with the first responders and volunteers, the community coming together for the long war.