one of many sites that agree with what sandy said. over 1500 missiles have been fired at israel.
do a google
and the 9th av is the end of a 3 week period of mourning beginning on 17th tammuz
Northern Israel Residents Wait for Rockets to End, Seek Aid July 28 (Bloomberg) -- At 3 p.m., a text message pops up on the mobile phones of workers for the regional council surrounding Kiryat Shemona, an Israeli town near the Lebanese border: A rocket barrage is coming.
Moments later, booms from nearby Israeli 155-mm howitzers aimed toward Lebanon shake the building -- and then an even louder sound is heard from the impact of a Katyusha rocket, one of 21 fired at Kiryat Shemona yesterday. A peek outside shows that one rocket has fallen in a nearby field, while another struck a warehouse up the road.
``How much longer can we go on like this?'' asks Aharon Valency, head of Upper Galilee Regional Council, as he sits in a bomb shelter near the entrance to Kiryat Shemona.
The drill has become routine in the town, one of scores of communities in both Israel and Lebanon that have become targets of rockets, missiles and artillery shells in the past two weeks since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted.
As people gather in the shelter, which serves as a war coordination center for assistance to residents of the region, one person cuts melon and another makes coffee while listening to the exchange of fire.
With the Israeli army battling Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, and diplomatic efforts to end the warfare stymied, the conflict is taking its toll on the local economy.
``It's very hard being in the shelters this long,'' says the 64-year-old Valency. ``Businesses are closed. How much longer can people live from reserves they don't have?''
Financial Losses
Valency estimates the losses of the area, both personal and indirect, at tens of millions of dollars. He adds that people can't understand why the Israeli government hasn't declared the region a disaster area and offered compensation.
``It's like the Finance Ministry is playing a bad game with us,'' he says.
The Israeli Globes daily reported yesterday that the Finance Ministry has decided to pay employers compensation equal to 180 percent of their payroll, a sum intended to cover the costs of wages owed employees who couldn't report to work and lost sales. So far, that decision hasn't been conveyed to residents.
The Israeli parliament, or Knesset, will be asked to pass a temporary law barring employers from firing people who stopped working because of the hostilities, the newspaper said.
232 Rockets
Valency's council is the third-largest in northern Israel and represents a population of 16,000. Behind him on a wall in the shelter is a map of the area. Colored pins mark the sites where the Katyusha rockets have struck. In the past 15 days, 232 rockets have fallen in the Kiryat Shemona area, or almost a sixth of the 1,520 rockets fired into Israel since July 12, when the fighting started, according to Israeli police.
Unlike Haifa to the west, which is suffering its first ever barrages of Katyushas, Kiryat Shemona has suffered rocket attacks in the past. A border community, it has also suffered some of the most brazen terrorist attacks in the history of the state. In November 1987, for instance, two Palestinian terrorists crossed into the Kiryat Shemona area from Lebanon on hang gliders, killing six Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli army has evacuated several towns along the border, fearing kidnappings by Hezbollah militants. Valency says there have been at least four thwarted attempts in the past two weeks.
Residents Stay
Unlike many other areas of the north, where much of the population has packed up and left, roughly 70 percent of the residents of his area have remained. Most of them live and work on kibbutzim, or collective farms, on the outskirts of Kiryat Shemona. Volunteers are ensuring there is enough food and activities for children.
Kiryat Shemona itself is a ghost town. Most residents, who could afford to leave, have relocated to southern parts of Israel out of rocket range. The rest remain in fortified shelters.
One restaurant on the main road called Burger Bis-Li has decided to reopen amid the conflict. Young Israeli soldiers headed for Lebanon pack inside for a snack.
``We opened yesterday after two weeks of being closed,'' says the restaurant owner, who identified herself as Maya. ``We have debts and workers to pay. There are lots of soldiers, but all of our regular clients have left.''
Asked how much longer she thought the situation would last, Maya replies: ``Slowly, with God's help, things will return to normal, I hope.''
A few miles south, scenic Rosh Pinna, one of the most popular towns with tourists, is similarly deserted. Israeli artillery can be heard in the distance. Nili Friedman, who runs a popular bed-and-breakfast, shakes her head while recounting how many cancellations she's had. Then she tells a story.
``A couple came all the way from New York just to spend a few hours talking to me here, to show their support,'' Friedman says. ``It gave me a lot of strength.''
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