Ezi thinks that they set the timers for the rockets in our neighborhood on the hour.  I think that if it true that the rockets in our neighborhood fall on the hour it is just because they’re in a rush to set the timers and run away.  

The frequent use of human shields is another sign to me that Hamas is trying to be very careful – of their own lives.  I am watching the filming from Jabalia on BBC – In Israel we can only see the catastrophe from above.  But what we see is an underground tunnel exploded and we can’t see the individuals from so far away.  These are the people who were warned again and again to leave the area and go to the south, but, the BBC says, some left and returned because conditions there were so bad.   Some had told foreign press that they had not been allowed to leave by Hamas.  When they did have choices, they were not good ones. 

I too feel I am at the front, but I feel I am being protected in every way possible.  The sirens, the shelters, the iron dome, the phone calls – all make me aware that there are major efforts made to protect me.  The people on the street at Jabalia make it clear to me that they are shields.  I pray for them – may Allah have mercy.