A friend, call him Reuben, rang us up from Ashdod a few days ago. Ordinarily, receiving a phone call from 30 miles away would seem unexceptional, but Ashdod was under attack. Hundreds of missiles had fallen in town by then, at a moment about halfway through the latest episode of Israel’s unending war with Hamas.
Most but not all hostile missiles aimed at Ashdod (and elsewhere in Israel) had been blown out of the sky by Israel’s Iron Dome missiles. Two Ashkelon women (12 miles from Ashdod) had been killed by incoming at the time of Reuben’s call, two others were seriously injured. The homes of those victims had received direct hits, as had at least eight others after Hamas fired uncounted missiles at the small city as part of what the terrorists proudly described as their “largest barrage ever.”
It was reported at the time of the now active ceasefire—italics used here because, in the Middle East, there is really no such thing—Hamas had fired well over four thousand missiles at Israel, all of them more modern than those they got off during their last fundraiser. (Formerly Hamas used short-range Qassam rockets with a range of about 6 miles but, in their latest attacks, they employed medium-range rockets with a range of 25 miles, Iranian M-75 rockets and J-80 rockets with a range of between 50-60 miles. Most Hamas officials declined to credit their daddy, Iran, for providing them with the necessary funds, technical support and weaponry to perfect their heroism, perhaps because between 10 and 20 percent of whatever they start off toward Israel somehow lands in Gaza. Their misfires severely damaged both their own electrical and water supplies, inflicting great hardship on their supply of human shields, but no one is perfect.)
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