Year after war: South lacks fortification
Despite government's promises, year after Operation Cast Lead, many homes, public buildings and even clinics still lack proper fortification
Almost a year after Operation Cast Lead was launched in the Gaza Strip, a number of problems that existed in Gaza vicinity communities last year, remain. While the government did approve the fortification of homes in the area, this promise has yet to be completely fulfilled, and some of the communities will have to wait until 2011 to receive fortification.
Even clinics in the communities, which were forced to operate out of fortified kindergartens and private houses, are left without protection. A Ynet inquiry into the situation reveals that the problems are far from being solved.
In Kibbutz Magen in the Eshkol Regional Council, a "waiting list" for bomb shelters has been written up. The residents and the kibbutz share the financial burden, since fortification was only approved for communities in a 4.5 kilometer range from the border. Magen is located 4.7 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip.
The Kibbutz's Secretary Danny Barzilay said, "We see no progress as far as the authorities go." He said great efforts are being made to advance the matter via the regional council and the kibbutz movement, but to no avail. Without assistance from the authorities, the kibbutz has no choice but to improvise a solution.
"We actually decided to build bomb shelters ourselves. We build according to our abilities and according to need. We have an internal line with which we try to determine who should get one sooner and who should follow. The criteria are mainly the level of the family's concern, the number of children, and their ages."
Clinics still at risk
If rocket attacks were to renew, the medical services in the area would be of little help, as the clinics' buildings in the area lack fortification. The council has 10 clinics in need of fortification, and four regional clinics.
"During the war, we received instructions from the Health Ministry to transfer the clinics to fortified structures, and those that did not move were shut down," said Eshkol Regional Council engineer Motti Lavan.
"The question that should be asked is how we will make it through the next war if we continue to give health services to a population that probably won't be able to move from one place to anther," he added.
Eshkol Council head Haim Yalin claims the fortification process is on the right track: "It is clear that as long as there is relative calm, there is less pressure. I have no doubt that in the event of an escalation, even if the construction of bomb shelters is not complete, we will know how to conduct ourselves.
"We are currently building shelters in five communities, and within a month we will start in the sixth. We have four more communities left to budget. The limitation is only financial. The fortification of the residents' homes will save lives and I hope the prime minister and his office's secretary-general speed up the process."
The situation in Eshkol's neighboring council, Sdot Negev, is not much better. There as well, decisions on the fortification of homes and public buildings are carried out slowly, if at all. But on the bright side, the majority of kindergartens in the council have already been fortified.
Meanwhile, some of the Sdot Negev communities are being fortified, while others wait for their bomb shelters to be renovated. In the council's Kibbutz Sa'ad, a tender has been issued for the construction of bomb shelters in the area, and the council hopes to have construction completed by 2010. Kibbutz Alumim, on the other hand, hopes only to start construction in 2011.
