Operation Protective Edge

Golani Brigade soldiers prepare to lower their comrade, St.-Sgt. Daniel Pomerantz, into his grave at Kfar Azar, near Ramat Gan. (Ben Hartman)

‘IF YOU’RE READING THIS, MY (ARMY) CAREER IS OVER,’ SLAIN GOLANI FIGHTER WROTE

Over the years she spent caring for bereaved families in her IDF career, Colonel (ret.) Varda Pomerantz always knew the day would come when she’d get a knock on her door, and officers would tell her one of her sons had been killed in action. The Jerusalem Post, July 24, 2014

 

 

 

 


Lt.-Col. Manor Yanai, commander of the Engineering Corps 601 Battalion, next to the tunnel opening. (Ben Hartman)
Lt.-Col. Manor Yanai, commander of the Engineering Corps 601 Battalion, next to the tunnel opening. (Ben Hartman)

‘‘THE JEWISH MIND WILL FIND A SOLUTION TO THE TUNNELS’

If you’re looking to destroy Hamas attack tunnels before they’re used to kill Israeli civilians and soldiers, send in an accountant. The Jerusalem Post, July 30, 2014

 

 

 

 


IDF combat reservists take a break near the Gaza border during the ground operation. (Ben Hartman)

BACK FROM GAZA, TROOPS TALK OF A TOUGHER HAMAS AND FEELINGS OF A JOB UNFINISHED
Something has changed in Gaza since the last time St.-Sgt. “Yoav” was sent there to fight. Hamas gunmen, whom IDF combat soldiers once largely dismissed, have become a force to be reckoned with. The Jerusalem Post, August 7th, 2014

 

 

 


A young Haredi boy stands outside a synagogue hit by a rocket fired from Gaza in late August. (Ben Hartman)
A young Haredi boy stands outside a synagogue hit by a rocket fired from Gaza in late August. (Ben Hartman)

A DIFFERENT OPERATION, BUT THE SAME EXPOSED CIVILIANS IN THE SOUTH
Most of the residents still don’t have safe rooms in their homes, and many of the nearby shelters remain locked or strewn with garbage The Jerusalem Post, July 9th, 2014

 

 

 

 


Henk Zanoli, 91, who returned his Righteous Among the Nations medal to Yad Vashem in August. (Twitter)

‘I DISAGREE WITH HIM BUT I LOVE HIM’
When news broke last week that 91-year-old Henk Zanoli had returned his ‘righteous gentile’ award in protest of Israel’s operation in Gaza after six relatives of his were killed in an Israeli air strike in July, Rivka Ben Pazi, a niece of the man he saved, was torn.Tablet, August 18th, 2014

 

 

 

 


American-Palestinian women fleeing wait to cross into Israel and then to points beyond. (Ben Hartman)

PALESTINIAN-AMERICANS, DUAL CITIZENS FLEE GAZA STRIP IN DROVES
Residents of the Hamas-ruled enclave began making their way out of the coastal territory as operation entered sixth day. The Jerusalem Post, July 13th, 2014

 

 

 

 


African migrants gather at Levinsky Park before a protest in January. (Ben Hartman)
African migrants gather at Lewinsky Park before a protest in January. (Ben Hartman)

FOR AFRICAN MIGRANTS IN TEL AVIV, CONFUSION AND APATHY ABOUT THE ROCKETS

A little over an hour after the second rocket attack at Gush Dan on Thursday, Lewinsky Park in south Tel Aviv didn’t really look like a city under fire. Groups of African men lazed about on the grass underneath the trees, and next to the playground, a group of Israelis and Africans sat in two circles passing around bongs filled with unknown substances, apparently not in a hurry to get anywhere fast. The Jerusalem Post, July 13th, 2014

 


Shikma Prison in Ashkelon, where there was an average of 8 rocket sirens every day during the war. (Ben Hartman)
Shikma Prison in Ashkelon, where there was an average of 8 rocket sirens every day during the war. (Ben Hartman)

IN ISRAELI PRISON, A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE FOR ROCKETS

When the rocket sirens go off in this warehouse district of Ashkelon, no one stops to take a picture with their cell-phone of the Iron Dome intercepting the rockets, and everyone knows exactly where to run. To be fair though, that’s probably because the 550 inmates have all had their cell-phones confiscated and have heard on average about eight rocket sirens per day during the past few weeks, giving them more than enough chances to practice.Tablet, July 23rd, 2014

 

 


Golani Brigade soldiers nap on the hood of a tank near the Gaza border on the second day of the ground operation. (Ben Hartman)
Golani Brigade soldiers nap on the hood of a tank near the Gaza border on the second day of the ground operation. (Ben Hartman)

FOR JOURNALISTS IN ISRAEL, A SENSE OF DÉJÀ VU
It’s easy to picture the screenplay: Bill Murray is a foreign correspondent who finds himself once again covering the rocket strikes on the southern Israel town of Sderot and the residents in the line of fire, only to awake the next morning, time after time, to live the same story again.Tablet, July 10th, 2014

 

 

 

 


A cop overlooks the house in Kfar Shalem hit by a large chunk of rocket shrapnel. (Ben Hartman)
A cop overlooks the house in Kfar Shalem hit by a large chunk of rocket shrapnel. (Ben Hartman)

IN TEL AVIV SHANTYTOWN OF KFAR SHALEM, RESIDENTS ARE VULNERABLE TO ROCKET FIRE
The neighborhood is for all intents and purposes a shantytown – full of many legally and illegally-built houses with little working infrastructure. In a sort of inverse logic, the residents have found that the best way to protect themselves is to do the opposite of Home Front command instructions, and to leave their fragile houses and watch the path of the rocket, in order to know which way to run.The Jerusalem Post, July 17th, 2014

 

 

 


Soldiers from the Nahal Brigade carry the casket of Eitan Barak at his funeral in Herzliya. (Ben Hartman)

ST.-SGT. EITAN BARAK REMEMBERED AS A ‘BEAUTIFUL, MAGICAL MAN’ BY FAMILY
Barak was killed at around 3 a.m. on the morning of Friday, July 18th, only a few hours after the ground operation in the Gaza Strip began.The Jerusalem Post, July 21st, 2014

 

 

 

 


Reservists walk towards a Hamas attack tunnel set for detonation on July 30th, 2014. (Ben Hartman)

IDF RESERVISTS IN THE SOUTH WAIT FOR ORDERS AS CEASE-FIRE FALLS APART

Whoever came up with the army phrase “hurry up and wait” probably had a place like the Kiryat Gat community center as it was on Tuesday in mind. The Jerusalem Post, July 16th, 2014

 

 

 

 

 


A police bomb squad officer removes a chunk of a rocket that struck a house in the Tel Aviv suburb of Yehud on July 22nd, 2014. (Ben Hartman)

NEGEV BOMB SQUADS TACKLE BOTH ROCKETS AND UNDERWORLD BOMBINGS
If you try to be a hero in this job you end up in a coffin,” says bomb squad member David Kurtzfeld.The Jerusalem Post, July 16th, 2014

 

 

 

 

 


A man walks through central Zichron Yaakov hours after rocket sirens and explosions were heard in the city on July 9th, 2014. (Ben Hartman)

AT MID-COAST, TOWNS NOW IN ROCKET RANGE GET USED TO SIRENS AND UNCERTAINTIES
As was the case elsewhere, there seemed to be real confusion about whether or not there had been a rocket, and even whether there had actually been an explosion or whether it was a false alarm.The Jerusalem Post, July 9th, 2014

 

 

 

 

 


Soldiers standing next to an APC in a staging area on the Gaza border, during the ground operation. (Ben Hartman)

CEASEFIRE HOPES IN ISRAEL AS NIGHT OF SILENCE MARKS END TO GAZA FIGHTING
The villages along Israel’s border with Gaza rose from their first night of silence yesterday as a 72-hour ceasefire held, raising hopes of an end to 29 days of fighting in which more than 1800 people died. (NOTE: Fighting would renew and continue for another three weeks)The Australian, August 7th, 2014

 

 

 

 


ON DAY 50 OF GAZA WAR, RESIDENTS OF SOUTHERN ISRAEL SAY LITTLE HAS CHANGED
As Operation Protective Edge hits another landmark, Ashdod residents tell ‘Post’ they are hunkering down for a war of attrition: “People aren’t getting used to this.” The Jerusalem Post, August 26th, 2014 

 

 


 

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Scroll to Top