As thousands flee violence in southern Israel, some decide to stay put

It’s quiet on Monday morning in Ashkelon — but it’s not a ghost town. 

There’s some light traffic and people are out and about in the Israeli city closest to the Gazan border, where about 15,000 people usually live. 

After Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, many communities completely emptied out as tens of thousands of people moved to other parts of Israel to get further away from rocket fire. 

But a lot of people in Ashkelon have decided to stay put. Among them is 90-year-old Isaiah Foyer. His house is less than 10 miles from the Gaza border.

Pointing to a brand new tile roof on his home, Foyer told The World that the house was seriously damaged on Oct. 7 when a rocket landed, damaging it and the one next door. 

He said he heard the warning siren and was in his safe room when the rocket hit. It was a powerful explosion, he said. What’s left of the rocket is in his driveway. 

When asked how scared he was at the time, he shrugged off the question. 

“I lived through World War II, in the [Warsaw] ghetto,” he said. 

Foyer said he was a 7-year-old orphan in Nazi-occupied Poland when he was taken prisoner and tortured by the Germans. He recalled how he escaped into the forest and joined the resistance fighters there. After the war, he resettled in Israel, in 1948. 

Now, he said it’s Hamas that’s trying to kill him.

Foyer said he’s not sure how long this war will last, but he’s not going to leave his home. 

Ashkelon has seen more rockets than any other place in Israel. No one has been killed there, but 39 people have been injured, including four seriously. 

City officials say about a quarter of the population has moved away.

Hila Guete is a volunteer delivering take-out meals to senior citizens in their homes. Since the war started, she said a lot of older people have been too afraid to go out by themselves. 

Guete said she fully understands why.

“It was the worst ever,” she said about the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, speaking through an interpreter. “Here in Ashkelon, we’ve been through several rounds of rockets landing, but it was never so bad, because of that day.” 

Rachel Rosenfeld, 76, lives by herself in a big apartment complex in Ashkelon. She said she was happy to receive meals, yet she has decided to move. And she’s already started packing. 

“A rocket hit and all the windows here on the balcony were shattered, along with the ones in my bedroom,” she said. “Actually, two rockets hit this building and the other one also caused a lot of damage. 

Rosenfeld said she’s moving to Eilat, at the very southern tip of Israel, on the Red Sea. That city has also had a few rocket attacks recently. But Rosenfeld said she’ll feel better about living closer to her son there.    

On the edge of Ashkelon, buses and green Israeli army vehicles were dropping off uniformed soldiers who’ve been fighting inside of the Gaza Strip. They’re on leave for a few days, meeting up here with family and friends.

Suzi Eigenstein came with a batch of cookies for her son and his army unit. She said he was supposed to get married last month, but that was put on hold when he was called up for reserve duty five weeks ago. 

With her son now serving in Gaza, Eigenstein said she feels conflicted about the war. 

“I’m praying for the soldiers that it won’t go on for a very long time. This is the first time that I feel in my gut that they have to finish the job. They have to get rid of Hamas,” she said.  

Across Israel, there are now 200,000 Israelis who have been displaced from their homes, according to a report from Reuters that’s based on numbers provided by the Israeli government. That includes families from the Gaza border areas, and northern Israel near the border with Lebanon. 

In recent days, there have been back-and-forth attacks between the Israeli military and Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. 

Speaking about that on Monday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “those who think they can expand the attacks against our forces and civilians” are “playing with fire.”