The harsh attack on Israel launched Saturday morning by Hamas was accompanied by, among other things, rocket fire at Gush Dan. The shooting in question directly hit a building in Tel Aviv, very close to the residence of Yehudit Bauman and Shimi Tavori. In a conversation we had with them, they shared the difficult and frightening moments when they realized it was a missile attack, and the difficult feelings of the fact that everything happened so close to their home.
Shimi Tavori and Yehudit Bauman in Tel Aviv. Photo: Courtesy of the interviewees
"Right next door. It was an injury to us," Yehudit says emotionally. "In a second, the shrapnel is in our house. It's not nearby, nor close, nor a mile away from us. It was right next door. We went in the evening after midnight to bed, we usually on Saturday get up at 09am or 00am. And suddenly at 10:00 A.M., I hear such a boom. Everyone is asleep, the street is deserted, and I hear such a boom, and I wake Shimi, we stick our heads out the window and see that everything is smoke, people are running towards the Yarkon River, everyone is looking for shelter because we don't have shelters.
"Our building has no safe room and no shelter. We ran and there we saw everything that was happening. It's right in the playground that my grandchildren usually play on Saturdays at my place. Always getting up in the morning, the big one takes them to the playground where the tree, wires and electricity fell. We ran to a shelter close to home."
Put: "I woke up from the boom, from the sound of the explosion, I thought it was an earthquake."
How did you feel in those moments? What were the feelings?
Judith: "My feelings are that this is it, this is the end. It's something that's okay, you're used to hearing that it's in the Gaza envelope or in all the farthest places on the northern border, but not something you're used to seeing in front of your eyes. Missiles, shrapnel of a missile. Shimi collects them, and sees them. It's a really bad feeling. I think we're at a crossroads. Very, very difficult. I don't relax. I'm looking for refuge. I won't be able to sleep here.
"Hamas' threat that they will bomb Tel Aviv. Shimi and I are thinking about where we will go, maybe we will ask Ben-El, I don't know, maybe the daughter. Just a feeling of fear that attacks you and freezes your heart. I cry for all the hostages and hostages. It's just like grief."
Put: "I'm fine, but in general I'm constantly facing the news. What will happen, how it will end, endanger all those in the matter. All of us, the entire nation of Israel is united in times like these. Judith has become yellow because she is very cowardly about it. Some women are very, very scared and she got a little hysterical, and I tried to calm her down."
Shimi Tavori and Yehudit Bauman during moments of terror in Tel Aviv. Photo: Courtesy of the interviewees
Has your home been damaged?
Judith: "When we came back the whole wall, every lime above the wall, everything was on the floor and on the bed. It was just shocking. Obviously it hit. It didn't take the concrete off my house or break my windows, but all the lime, all the paint, bits and pieces. Everything fell on the bed, on the house, and we're anxious."
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us