Near Miss for Kibbutz in Path of Sinai Incursion
The members of the tiny kibbutz here on Israel’s troubled border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip were just finishing a light supper in their dining hall on Sunday evening when text messages warned them to take cover.
They heard three loud blasts, the familiar sound of mortars fired from Gaza, as they scurried to the sealed pub under the dining hall or to the safe rooms in their modest homes. There they stayed until near midnight — Andy Breakell recalled watching Usain Bolt win the gold medal in the 100-meter dash — many with no idea what was unfolding around them.
Only next morning, Mr. Breakell said, did he learn that masked gunmen had killed 16 soldiers just across the border in Egypt, blown up a stolen truck at the border fence, and driven a stolen armored vehicle loaded with explosives about a mile into Israel. It was half a mile from the kibbutz entrance when Israeli airstrikes destroyed the vehicle.
“As it carried on and on and on, we realized it was more serious than usual,” Mr. Breakell, 58, said in a meeting with journalists here on Wednesday afternoon. “If the troop carrier had turned left into our street and broken into the kibbutz ... ” he added, trailing off.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/world/middleeast/near-miss-for-kibbutz-in-path-of-sinai-incursion.html