We left Sdorot yesterday and are now staying in a house overlooking the broad dun-colored hills of the northern West Bank. The quiet envelops the hills. In winter, this is a place of nomadic goatherds. Now, hot and silent.
We are still targets, though. All in Israel are targets.
In February, the Times of Israel's David Horovitz detailed Hamas’s much improved missile capabilities, and its use of underground tunnels. “Hamas has also committed considerable resources to the construction of a substantial network of tunnels — dozens of miles of underground networks in key areas of the Strip — which will immensely complicate future military confrontations for Israel,” he wrote.
“Hamas will use the tunnels to plant mines targeting Israeli land forces, the Israeli military believes. It will use the network of tunnels to move its gunmen undetected from place to place during warfare. The Israeli military further anticipates that Hamas will fire rockets from underground launchers, making them far harder to detect and target. Moreover, the Hamas command and communication facilities will be located underground, enabling it to seek to maintain effective control out of reach of Israeli air power. Finally, the Hamas leadership, which the Israeli army said in the past had taken refuge in underground bunkers beneath hospitals and other civilian facilities, will also utilize these more-sophisticated underground facilities.”
Israel continues to supply electricity, food, and water to Gaza, as well as medical treatment to any Palestinians in need (on July 8 alone, 80 Palestinians crossed from Gaza into Israel and were admitted in Israeli hospitals).