(Ha'aretz) Ran Shimoni - The children from the Western Negev are prepared for the next time it happens. They're vigilant, primed, and have already drawn up their plans. Renana reveals how she will jump from the balcony of the hotel room where she is currently staying onto the balcony of the floor below. Then she will hide under one of the beds. If the terrorists come to Nadir's home again, he will quickly run outdoors, sprint to his bike, and race off at top speed until he reaches his aunt. Noga imagined she would hide in the closet with her father's gun, then suddenly burst out and shoot the terrorists one by one. Renana Botzer Swissa, from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, is 13; Nadir Alfasi, from Ofakim, is 10; Noga Shoman, from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, is 10. Life has etched the same scar on their souls, when they hid in fear, when they were rescued from their homes in the dark, when they saw the landscape of their lives going up in flames, when they were told about loved ones they had lost. When they summoned within themselves the strength no child should ever have to find. When Renana was rescued from her house along with her parents and grandmother, they realized they had been saved by a miracle. In all the neighboring homes, residents had been murdered or kidnapped. Her desire to go back home, to school, is strong and felt every day. But so too is the fear: any sudden noise can interrupt a conversation, can flood the eyes with tears. "We grew up several years in a few hours," she says. Nadir has moved back home with his family to Ofakim's Mishor Hagefen neighborhood, where more than 35 people were murdered and over 100 injured. None of the apartments there had safe rooms. When an air-raid siren sounds, the residents leave their homes and head out to public bomb shelters. The terrorists were waiting for them. Nadir saw his father and brother shot by a Hamas terrorist. "A policeman shot the terrorist before he could mow us all down," he said. The policeman, Avi Buzaglo, was killed - one of 30 Israel Police officers who died in combat on Oct. 7.
2023-11-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive