Israel's Southern Region: The Gaza Perimeter
UJC 2009 Campaign Chairs and Directors Mission

In 2008, over 3,200 Palestinian rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, leading to Israel’s decision to launch a defensive operation on December 27, 2008. The war revealed that Hamas's rocket range now endangers one million Israelis living in major southern cities including Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, Ashdod, Gedera, and Kiryat Malachi.

Although the IDF’s military operation ended with a unilateral ceasefire by Israel declared on January 18, 2009, over 200 rockets have been fired from Gaza since then. Residents of the South must now rebuild their lives – from treating emotional trauma to reviving local business – while rockets continue to fall. 

Operation Cast Lead: The Homefront
Before Operation Cast Lead, 433 Israeli residents of the area had been injured and thousands had been traumatized. During the military action, rockets killed four people and injured more than 294.

• By January 2008, over 8,000 rockets had been launched at Sderot and the Western Negev. During Cast Lead, 849 rockets were fired on Southern Israel.
• Rockets struck nine educational facilities and three synagogues. 
• Roads and buildings sustained widespread damage—1,279 buildings received direct hits by missiles.

Sderot: Years of Terror
Massive, continuous rocket fire against Sderot, the city closest to the Gaza border, has been a painful way of life for its population since January 2001. The Israeli government has installed a radar system or “red alert alarm.” Once a rocket is launched from Gaza and the siren sounds, residents have 15 seconds to reach a bomb shelter. It’s not surprising that approximately 70 percent of Sderot residents and up to 94 percent of the children suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or that enrollment at Sapir College, just outside Sderot, has fallen dramatically.

Business and Economy

• The areas targeted by attacks from Gaza are part of Israel’s geographic and socioeconomic periphery. Many of those who are in the line of fire don’t have savings or resources to fall back on when tragedy strikes.
• Some 1,120 property tax claims have been filed since the start of Operation Cast Lead. Forty eight agricultural properties have been damaged by rocket hits.
• Between 20 and 30 percent of businesses in Sderot and surrounding areas have shut down since the rocket terror began. Retail sales have dropped by nearly 50 percent.
• During the intense rocket fire of May 2007, 350 small businesses were forced to close or relocate. For example, in January 2008, Hollandia, a major international mattress factory employing close to 100 local residents in and around Sderot, was forced to shut its Sderot plant and relocate to central Israel.
• Hospitals in the South have a hard time finding interns and struggle to acquire necessary medical equipment.

Vulnerable Populations

• People with disabilities sometimes opt to stay at home all day for fear there will be a red alert and they won’t be able to reach a shelter.
• Many new immigrants from Ethiopia or the FSU don’t understand the Hebrew instructions given over the radio during a rocket attack. The chaotic atmosphere in the public shelters can be difficult for some immigrant adults to deal with, and they stay in their homes instead of going to shelters.
• Many elderly residents of the area find it difficult to get to the shelters quickly.
• Many shelters don’t have bathroom facilities, an added inconvenience for the elderly and infirm.
• A recent survey concluded that almost one-third of children aged 4-18 now suffer from PTSD, with symptoms that include sleeping difficulties, sweating, development regressions, bedwetting, and fear of the outdoors.
• Children in areas affected by rockets suffer from severe hyperactivity and have difficulty focusing in class. Grades on exams have dropped, while aggressive behavior among students in class has increased.
• Only 56.5 percent of 12th grade students in Sderot received their matriculation certificates in 2001.

How We’re Helping
UJC and the Federations raised more than $6 million to address urgent and ongoing needs in Southern Israel. Through our partners the Jewish Agency for Israel and JDC, as well as other organizations such as the Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC), we have provided critical services including:

• Respite trips outside the conflict zone for 35,000 young Israelis
• Trauma support, including 10,000 therapeutic stuffed animals distributed in Sderot
• Repairs and enhancements to 500 public bomb shelters to make them safe and welcoming
• Activities to help keep 1,500 children calm in bomb shelters
• Emergency financial assistance for 100 victims of missile attacks
• Case managers to check in on 25,000 elderly and disabled residents