#LivingIt: Operation Protective Edge 24th July - Day 17

Operation Protective Edge 24th July - Day 17

In the past 24 hours 39 rockets (and counting) were shot towards the south and center of Israel, killing Kitiyangkol Narakorn, a worker in a farm by the border, and hitting neighborhoods and industrial areas. 

5 more terror-tunnels were revealed yesterday, bringing it to 31 terror-tunnels discovered so far. Massive troops are engaging in combat within the Gaza Strip and in its borders. 

Can we create a Community “Iron Dome”?

This house in Yahud near Tel Aviv was one of the houses directly hit by a Hammas rockets two days ago. The owner is a kindergarten teacher, but for two days now she wasn’t able to open the kindergarten. The anxiety she’s been experiencing is a bit too much for her, and she feels too sad and too scared to go to work. As a result, the 30 children who attend her kindergarten stay home and their parents do not go to work. Their houses, just like their teacher’s, are not safe. 

The teacher met with one of ITC’s therapist last night. They had an open and supporting talk about her fears, and she  got some helpful tools to help her regain control over the situation – for herself, and for the sake of the children under her responsibility. This morning she will open her kindergarten and meet 30 loving faces of children. 

The case of Mazal is just one example of how a single rocket can change the life of an entire community. In the past 16 days, over 1800 rockets were fired from Gaza to Israel. An average of 112 per day.

Israel is hugging the soldiers

The soldiers and their families are getting a warm hug from the Israeli society, as thousands of civilians are sending packages to the troops, and small independent groups team up to help the families left home, with cooking, babysitting and such.

We at ITC take care of the “social soldiers”, who keep the education and welfare systems going, the volunteers and professionals, the municipal workers. They are the civic front of this war. 

Since the beginning of the operation, ITC supported over 100 kindergartens and their teachers with our puppet-therapy program, over 150 hours of support of crisis response teams, dozens of hours guiding educational teams, some 200 hours of professional and personal support to social workers, and much more. 

Solidarity, support and one good hug

ITC hosted 3 JFNA solidarity missions in the past week, and two more are planned for the next few days. The people of the Gaza border were very moved by the visitors’ willingness to come into their warzone. 

Vini Ofri, a therapist in the Sderot Resilience Center, was asked by the mission – what do you need from us? 

she replied: “A hug”. 

In the picture: Vini Ofri with Michael Siegal, chair of the Board of Trustees of The Jewish Federations of North America.

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