Pillar of Defense

Twenty years under missile threat
Lior Greenberg has been working in MDA for the last 20 years. He lives in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. With the beginning of the operation, he
quickly brought his children back to their mother’s home in Ashdod, packed a bag with a few clothes and went to the station in
Sderot, where he stayed continually since the that morning, non-stop, without any rest, without the possibility of returning to his
home in the Kibbutz, which suffers heavy and constant rocket bombardment, for days on end.
I knew that troubles are just beginning
“After the targeted elimination of Ja’abari, I understood the reality, which already was almost impossible, would to change rapidly.
From that moment on, the rocket sirens began to sound, rocket began falling, people were injured and the situation became restless.
I cannot leave the station. I have no place to return to. The Kibbutz has been under fire for days now. There’s no one there. They all
fled for their lives. I was told that my house was not damaged, so far. This is a stupid situation. We are locked at the station for a week.”
I miss the children
“I have not seen my children since the operation began. It’s my greatest difficulty. My children are in Ashdod, staying with their
mother and I’m here in Sderot. Even if I take a leave and go to see them, where to would I take them? Nowhere is safe. I cannot take
them to hang around in the city, as I cannot get out of the sheltered area. There’s no chance of going to my home in the Kibbutz,
because it’s too dangerous. It’s an extreme difficultly.”
Each day, you go out in response to dozens of calls and you meet many residents, how they react to the situation? “The population
in Ashdod is very strong. You can sense that. During operation “Cast Lead”, we have evacuated more trauma victims. Nowadays the
civilians are tougher, they do not mind suffering more, provided that this nightmare will be stopped, once and for all. “
Lior speaks quickly, typical of a person who has been living too long in a danger zone, in a state of constant threat. There’s no time to
talk, there are bomb alerts, and he has to run into a shelter, there are patients to care for, as he has been doing that for days without
a break, without rest. During the interview, he received a message about of an unconscious casualty at the Eschol area. He is silent
for a moment, gathering his strength.
In the midst of all the sirens, how do you feel? “I’m tired and exhausted, but I will not leave the station until it’s all over. I worked
consecutive shifts, evening - night and this morning I went out again in response to rocket falls. There’s no break, we are working
all the time. I cannot leave. I care about MDA too much. I could resign from MDA and take a different job, but I’m unable to detach
myself.”
Do you manage to get any sleep at night? “All the time we receive reports about shooting, rockets being launched, interceptions
by the “Iron Dome”, shelling, there’s constant noise, always something happening. Even in the middle of the night the sirens wake us
up and send us running to the bomb shelters, we hear explosions every few seconds.”
When was the last time you slept the whole night? “I do not remember.”
How do you reserve your strength? “I talk a lot with my children, and at the station we all encourage one another. We do not
concern ourselves with ‘what happened’ and ‘what is going to happen’, we just do the job, rushing from one incident to the next one,
with no time to think. “
What will you do when the bombardments will stop, when the threat is removed? “I want to sleep. See my children and then go
to sleep. “
No. of Missiles fired 156 | No. of ambulances. Dispatched 104 | summary of calls in Ayalon, Lachish and Negev regions 602 | No. of casualties 62
Conflict Journal | Day 5 | 18.11.2012 | Sunday
00:24 shooting from Syria towards IDF patrols, No casualties. Director-
General orders to reinforce first responder ambulances in Ramat
HaGolan.
05:08 heavy barrage of missiles fired towards southern Israel. Sirens were
heard many times during the day in Ashdod, Ashkelon, Be’er Sheva,
Be’er Tuvia municipality, Yoav municipality, Eshkol municipality,
Kibbutz Kfar Gaza and more.
10:12 a direct hit on a residential building in Ashkelon. 2 lightly
injured, 5 suffering from stress symptoms.
10:35 a rocket fall in Ashkelon in an open space. No casualties, no
damage caused.
12:14 a direct hit of a missile on a car in Ofakim. 5 people injured. 2
severely- moderately injures, the rest are lightly injured. Among
the casualties, a 2 years old baby girl and her parents, a man in
his 50’s and a young man.
12:20 another barrage of missiles towards Ofakim. A direct hit from a
rocket on a building in the city. One lightly injured.
13:00 a barrage of rockets towards Tel Aviv. The Iron Dome system
successfully intercepts it; a car takes a direct hit by one of
the fragments and bursts into flames. No physical injuries, 10
suffering from stress symptoms.
17:00 MDA Director-General’s assessment. No operational change.
22:24 following the Director-General’s instructions, armored ambulances
accompanied with paramedics were stationed in Nachal- Oz and Sufa.
MDA in Operation
“Pillar of Defense”
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