Waiting for the Sirens to Start

August 8, 2024

by: Ilse Strauss

Thursday, 8 August 2024 | We have a plan. When the sirens start, I grab our daughter, Lily, while my husband goes for the dogs. There are three of them, all a little skittish. So the stronger parent is saddled with getting the three squirmy canine bodies as opposed to one toddler body into the bomb shelter.

Our go-bag sits next to the front door. It’s weighty with water, snacks, toys, a first-aid kit and a power bank. More water and Lily’s bedding wait downstairs in the communal bomb shelter. Two pairs of sturdy sandals—the slip-on kind—are parked next to the go-bag. Nobody wants to be caught barefoot in an Iranian attack.

We aren’t the only ones with a plan. In fact, like everyone else in Israel, we are waiting for the sirens to start. And start they will. There’s too much egg on too many faces in Tehran and Beirut.

Yet more than a week after the targeted killing of two top terror chiefs in their own backyards, it’s still not clear how Iran and Hezbollah intend to “punish” Israel.

Make no mistake, both Iranian and Hezbollah top leadership has vowed “imminent” retribution for the death of Hezbollah’s second-in-command Fu’ad Shukr in a pinpoint strike in Beirut—which Israel claimed—and the demise of Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh in a pinpoint attack in an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stronghold in the heart of Tehran—which Israel neither confirmed nor denied but is blamed for nonetheless.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that over the weekend, the United States observed signs that serve as harbingers of an imminent attack, including movement of Iran’s missile launchers and various military exercises.

But exactly how imminent is imminent? Days? Weeks? Hours? Also, will said punishment be meted out during the daytime when our children are at daycare or at night when they are conveniently close at hand? Will we have advance warning like last time or will the rumble of the missiles overhead and the scream of the siren tell us that the wait is over? Are we talking one barrage or many, which translates to hours in the bomb shelter or days? Will there be power outages or disruptions in the water supply? As the days following the targeted killings have now turned into a week and counting, the questions swirl.

Of course, the waiting game is part of Tehran’s psychological warfare. Knowing that something is coming, but not being entirely sure what that something is and when it will arrive is a whole lot worse than the actual something.

Then there are the rumors and the hints. Last night, an Egyptian official told Cairo’s al Qahera TV that Iranian authorities have advised civilian airlines to avoid its airspace for three hours on Thursday morning citing “military exercises.”

The report followed hot on the heels of Egyptian aviation authorities issuing an official Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, urging pilots to steer clear of the skies over Tehran between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. GMT (4 a.m. to 7 a.m., Israel time).

Yet 4 a.m. to 7 a.m., Israel time, came and went with no sign of Iranian aggression.

And then there’s Hezbollah, often described as a branch of the IRGC, thus a virtual extension of Tehran on Israel’s northern border. Citing unnamed officials in Jerusalem, Israel’s Channel 12 News said last night that the Jewish state believes Hezbollah—as opposed to Iran itself—will be first to strike “in the coming days.”

This is not to say that Hezbollah has been quiet in the eight days since Shukr’s death. On the contrary. The Iranian terror proxy has steadfastly continued raining down rockets, mortars, missiles and drones on the Jewish state, continuing the steady bombardment it started on October 8—apparently in solidarity with fellow Iranian terror proxy Hamas.

All this begs the question: why are we—the non-Israeli, non-Jewish Christians—choosing to stay? The answer is simple.

In the seven odd decades since the Holocaust, Christians have vowed, “Israel, we are right here with you. We’ve got your back. Never again!”

And now, when the chips are down and we wait for the sirens to start, that is exactly where we are: here, having Israel’s back.

In our being here, having Israel’s back, is a message, one that cannot be conveyed with words but that echoes louder than speech: “We love the God of Israel and therefore we love you, the people of Israel. We weren’t there during the Crusades, forcible expulsions, Spanish Inquisition, pogroms, Holocaust or wars of Israel’s infancy. But we’re here now. And as Christians who love the God and people of Israel, you will never be alone again. We are waiting with you.”

Posted on August 8, 2024

Photo Credit: Ilse Strauss/bridgesforpeace.com

Source: (Bridges for Peace, August 8, 2024)