Israel’s Home Front Command visited the classes of Ben-Gurion University students with a megaphone and told students to evacuate the city immediately. A representative of the BGU Student Union also went around the Ben-Gurion campus with the same message. According to the facebook page of Ben-Gurion University, there were also no classes last Thursday and will be no classes next Sunday. Students are instructed to check the university website for further updates regarding the security situation in Be’ersheva and the status of their studies.
Sharyn Lieberman, who is now in Kfar Yona, was forced to take just what she needed to study because there was no time to grab other things. She claimed that people were really tense as they rushed to the train, resulting in a horrible car accident. Sharyn asserted, “The train station was really packed. While it usually takes five minutes” to enter the train station, it took “over thirty minutes” this time around because of this traffic and as a result, it “almost an hour” to leave the city due to the long lines. She felt “really stressed,” for she was “never evacuated in the middle of the day” before this.
Danielle Shkop at first didn’t know what to do. However, the fact that every one had back-packs on convinced her to join her family in Haifa. However, leaving Be’ersheva turned out to be a struggle. Danielle reported, “The minute that I left, there was a siren. I heard 10 really loud booms. Usually its one, but” this time “it was 10. It was serious and not a regular siren. 5 minutes later, there was another siren. Every time I wanted to leave, there was a siren. It took an hour to leave last Wednesday. I was going to leave at 8pm, but left at 8:45pm.”
Danielle claimed that while it is quiet in Haifa, she still is very much glued to the news and is constantly in touch with friends who are still there. Based on their reports, the situation in Be’ersheva is very dire. Danielle reported, “There is like a bomb every fifteen minutes now. It is very difficult to work. It’s impossible to function there.” Danielle is terrified from the bomb sirens. She claims that every siren freaked her out when she was in Be’ersheva. Danielle said that it forces one to stay at home and prevents one from going out. She asserted, “It’s a really impossible situation. I hate it.”
Ortal Ben Yisha did manage to leave Be’ersheva before the sirens went off, although she did witness the tense situation as people struggled to get out. However, because she comes from Ashdod, leaving Be’ersheva did not help her escape qassam rockets. She claims that the situation in Ashdod is just as bad as Be’ersheva. Ortal asserted, “It is not really nice, hearing the bombs, especially when they sound close to your house. It is very scary.” She claims that she has 45 seconds to get to a safe room. Her six year old niece especially is really struggling right now because of the sirens, particularly at night.
Reported by Rachel Avraham for United With Israel
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