2006-07-13-Gaza-Lebanese War
Judy Lash Balint	Israel's War with Hamas, Hezbollah intensifies on fast day of the 17th of Tammuz Jewishsightseeing.com,  July 13, 2006

By Judy Lash Balint This morning dawned with an odd sight for Jerusalem in July. Cloudy skies. The gray pall over the city reflects the new reality that greets us this morning, the fast day of the 17th of Tammuz—the day that marks the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem in 586 BCE by the Babylonian army and a similar event in 70 CE by the Roman Army. The Three Weeks is traditionally a period of heaviness, sadness, reflecting a deep sense of loss. This year as the Three Weeks between 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B'Av get underway, funerals of eight young Israelis have already started. Three more are missing, in the hands of Hizbollah and Hamas. And once again, after a respite of six short years after we ran away from Lebanon, Israelis in the north are waking up in bomb shelters. Bomb shelters that were officially cleaned out and closed when Ehud Barak told the nation they would never be needed again. As the morning wears on, Katyusha attacks continue on Nahariya (one woman killed as she sat on her balcony, scores injured) and even as far south as Rosh Pina (no reported injuries). All northern communities as far south as Ayelet Hashachar and Gadot (not too far from the northern tip of the Kinneret/Sea of Galilee) have been ordered into bomb shelters. The rabbis have called a mass prayer service at the Kotel this afternoon. There's a call-up underway for an entire division of army reserves—that's anyone up to the age of 45. People in Raanana report constant northward flyovers of Israeli jets. I'm heading up to the eastern Golan for Shabbat—to Alonei Habashan, the closest Israeli community to the Syrian border. We'll see how long it will take for Israel to go after Syria, that holds Hizbollah's puppet strings along with Iran. Judy Lash Balint is an award-winning Jerusalem-based writer and author of Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times. (Gefen) www.jerusalemdiaries.com What's happening behind the headlines in Israel? Check out http://jerusalemdiaries.blogspot.com Visit http://flickr.com/photos/jerusalemdiaries/ for some unusual photos from Israel.