Status: 26.10.2023, 19:57 PM
By: Jana Stabner
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Israel is at war, the ground offensive is imminent. But Esther continues to live in the country, her husband has been drafted into the army. How does she stand it?
The Middle East conflict (about which you should know the following five terms) continues: Israel is ready for a ground offensive in the fight against the Islamist Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip and at the same time is pressing ahead with efforts to free the approximately 220 hostages. As Israel's government confirmed on the night of October 24, 2023, Hamas released two elderly women. It is unclear whether there will be a limited ceasefire for aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip more than two weeks after the war began.
Videos of the Israel war keep popping up on social media – some of them are misleading or false (here are five tips on how to deal with fake news about the war in Israel). One person who deliberately stays away from social media is Esther. "When you look at it, you actually lose all the positives that you can still hold together here," Esther* tells BuzzFeed News Germany from Ippen.Media. She moved to Israel to live with her husband just over a year ago and now lives in Tel Aviv.
What is it like to live in Tel Aviv during the Israel war? A young woman tells her story. (Symbolic image) © Addictive Stock/IMAGO, agefotostock/IMAGO
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Israel war: This is what life is like in Tel Aviv right now
Esther does not feel the war in the Israeli metropolis on the Mediterranean directly. Tel Aviv seems far enough away from the trouble spots, especially the Gaza Strip. In addition, it protects the missile defense system called "Iron Dome", which is used especially over densely populated areas and intercepts missiles in the air. Everyone in Israel knows what that sounds like – because the population there lives under constant rocket fire.
Only on October 7, 2023, was it the first time that it was a different feeling to walk into the bunker (also called shelter in Israel) of the apartment building, Esther tells BuzzFeed News Germany. It was early in the morning and the alarms woke the residents from their sleep. The impacts were louder, not as far away as usual. And then the terrible news that Hamas has killed or kidnapped thousands of people in southern Israel.
"You just notice that you're somehow in such a constant state of tension"
In the days immediately following the attack, the alarm was sounded five times a day. A week after the attack, it's better. Nevertheless, she warns us in the interview that it is possible that a siren goes off (which fortunately does not happen). "You can tell that you're somehow in such a constant state of tension: you're really on alert. So literally," says Esther. "And I also notice that I'm totally sensitive to sounds."
Esther does not know any of the hostages that Hamas kidnapped. Still, she feels sick when she thinks about the fact that she and her husband have often toyed with the idea of attending a music festival (not the one that was raided by Hamas) in southern Israel. In the meantime, this thought is inconceivable. Her husband was drafted into the reserve shortly after the terrorist attack. "If you come from Germany like me, you can't really imagine that something like this can happen to you in life. It suddenly reminds you of completely different times," says Esther.
When the call came that her husband was being drafted, he asked directly if she wanted to return to Germany. "That's when I kind of collapsed completely and said, 'No, I definitely don't want to go!'. She could not imagine being separated from him, even if he does not currently live in an apartment with her, but is in the army. "It wouldn't feel right," she says. Of course, if the situation in Tel Aviv worsens, she may reconsider this decision.
War in Israel
Terrorists on behalf of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, carried out a massacre of civilians in Israel on October 7. More than 1400 people lost their lives in the following days. At least 222 others were forcibly deported to the Gaza Strip, including several Germans, according to Israel's army. Since then, Israel's army has been bombing targets in the Gaza Strip and preparing a ground offensive in the sealed coastal area. Several units are currently training for this, according to the army.
More than about a million residents of the northern Gaza Strip have fled to the southern part. Israel's army had called for this in order to avoid civilian casualties if the fighting escalated. According to the latest figures from the Hamas-controlled ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, 4137,<> people have died in the Gaza Strip so far. Two weeks after the start of the war, human rights organisations are delivering the first aid deliveries to the war zone.
False alarm in Tel Aviv: "It was very, very scary"
"The fear that is most current for us here is that Hezbollah should enter the war in the north," the young woman from Tel Aviv told BuzzFeed News Germany. Once there was a message that all people in the northern areas should go to the shelters immediately and everywhere there was an alarm. Then, half an hour later, it turned out to be a false alarm. It was very, very scary."
She is very privileged in Tel Aviv and is currently in the safest region of the country. Nevertheless, Hamas sends several rockets every day to constantly unsettle the population, says Esther. There is a clear recommendation to always stay in the vicinity of shelters. Only for shopping or short walks in a park with a bunker (called a shelter in Israel) does Esther leave her apartment. The tech company she works for allows her to stay in the home office.
"It's crazy that you have about ten mood swings every day. It's so strange, in the morning you feel kind of good, then at noon you're worried and in the afternoon you're in a different mood again," says Esther. "Even in this absolutely sick situation, where every day there is worse horror news that you can't even believe, you keep going." She can't speak for others, but somehow she manages to deal with it. "Of course, the Israelis are used to different things. But they also tell me that what is happening now is so blatantly different from anything they have ever experienced before."
Israel, families of Hamas hostages on October 20 in Tel Aviv. Esther is not one of them. Nevertheless, she spoke to BuzzFeed News about her situation. © ZUMA Wire/IMAGO, Collage
Israel war: What is happening in Germany "hurts quite a bit"
The fact that Palestine flags are appearing everywhere in Germany (as at this German university) and that anti-Semitism is increasing due to the Israeli war hurts Esther – even though she is not Jewish. "It hurts a lot." She has a lot of sympathy for people who are also committed to the situation of the Palestinian civilian population. "I, too, think the situation of the Palestinians is absolutely terrible. But that they completely ignore what triggered the war. I don't understand that."
Shortly after Hamas' terrorist act, Israel received a great deal of solidarity. Then Israel reacted and now it feels as if the mood has completely shifted. "Of course, these retaliatory strikes by Israel also cause terrible suffering. But I think we should not forget that Hamas is the side that positions its own rockets so that they are surrounded by civilians. Hamas is actively trying to use civilians as human shields. I find it difficult that people can't weigh it up."
She emphasizes how entangled the Middle East conflict is (which is currently an important topic in schools). "Every innocent human life that is taken in this conflict is one too many and terrible, there's no question about that," Esther told BuzzFeed News Germany. Nevertheless: "Just because you can see the suffering of one side more or see it very strongly, you must not refuse to see the suffering of the other side as well. That somehow you don't selectively push your humanity to one side and close your eyes to everything else, as hard as that may be."
Related: Why I'm ashamed of Germany's role in Israel's war
*Editor's note: Esther wishes to be referred to by her first name only. Her full name is known to the editors. In an earlier version, we wrote that Esther was woken up by the alarm on October 7 in the middle of the night. After a hint that it was early in the morning, we corrected the corresponding spot.
(With material from dpa)