WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Israeli kids race for rocket shrapnel as blitz rages on
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-07 11:59 SDEROT, Israel: As police and onlookers stare at the damage caused by the latest Gaza rocket to slam into this southern Israeli town, no one pays attention to the small boy clambering over the fence and kicking through the debris. Deep in concentration, 11-year-old Yinon Tubi peers under bushes and sifts through the rubble as he scours the garden for any leftover remains of the Qassam rocket fired by militants in Gaza a few km away. Within minutes, he has assembled an impressive collection of twisted fragments on the garden wall. "As soon as a Qassam hits, we start looking for shrapnel for souvenirs," he says, proudly holding up a battered army-issue ammunition box in which he keeps his collection - the remains of more than 50 different rockets.
"It's like a competition to see who can get the most and who has the nicest bits." For the children of this southern Israeli town who have become used to the years-long almost daily barrage of rockets fired from northern Gaza, searching for shrapnel has become a popular pastime, with kids competing to see who comes up with the most impressive find. It may be a game, but these missiles have claimed four Israeli lives in the last 10 days, and brought down the fearsome wrath of the Israeli army which is currently locked in a deadly battle to halt rocket fire from the impoverished Gaza Strip. But aside from the occasional whump! of Israeli canons firing at targets in Gaza just five km down the road, there is little sign of the bloody battle raging between Israel and Gaza's militants. When Israeli radars pick up signs of an incoming rocket, sirens wail and residents have less than a minute to take cover in the whitewashed bomb shelters peppering the streets of the town. But after the danger is over, Yinon is quick to head out to see what he can salvage. "I just follow the smoke," he says. Pouring the pieces onto a table, Yinon pulls out his most-prized find - a non-descript triangle-shaped hunk of metal which was his first discovery 18 months ago. He also points to a charred bunch of house keys - which he and his father believe were packed into a missile. "It's a game but it's also a healthy way of dealing with his fears," says his father, Shilav, a 35-year-old teacher at the local religious school. "We don't want to stop him but we do make sure he doesn't run after them while they're still in the air," he says wryly. "Of course, we're hoping the day will come when he can start collecting something better than shrapnel from Qassam rockets." Amid the shattered glass and smashed tiles littering the ground where the missile hit, Yinon and a friend are comparing finds, his mate gleefully showing off what looks like the nose tip of the rocket. "Everyone does it - from the old to the young," says 19-year-old student Yitzak Ben Abu. "People are looking for anything that's connected to the 'action'. "It's sort of sad - but it's also exciting," he says. |
