KIBBUTZ NIRIM, Israel – Nearly two decades ago, Israel agreed to disengage from Gaza with the thought that it might be a step toward peace.
Since then, however, those living near the Gaza Strip and beyond have endured constant rocket attacks that ultimately led to the events of October 7th.
When Israel pulled some 8,000 Israelis out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, leaders did so with good intentions and hoped for positive results.
Adele Raemer, a longtime resident of Kibbutz Nirim, lives near the border fence with Gaza.
She told CBN News, "We believed in peace, and we worked for peace."
Raemer helped Gazan Palestinians for years, hoping to achieve the dream that changed after October 7th.
She recalled, "For years the Gazans – the world – have been saying that they live in an 'open-air prison.' So, if it was such an open-air prison, how did they get all of the cement in to build tunnels? How did they get all of the weaponry that they came over here with? The tactical weapons, the flak jackets, the helmets, the Kalachnikovs? How does that get into an open-air prison?"
She explained how it happened.
"Unfortunately, the money that came in, instead of going to the people that needed the money, the Gazan people who deserved the money, who needed the money for food, to fix their houses, to build new houses and schools – all of that money was invested in warfare and invested in tunnels where our people (hostages) are being kept now," Raemer noted.
In 2022, well before last year's massacre and kidnappings at the hands of Hamas, Raemer told us what it was like to live under constant threat.
"From the moment we hear the Red Alert (siren), we have between zero to 10 seconds before we hear the explosion of the rocket. And that's the amount of time we have to get to someplace safe," she said.
Each home near the Gaza Strip and those built across Israel since the early 1990s include a bomb shelter. Then again, rockets aren't the only weapon Hamas uses to attack border communities.
"There's a whole web of tunnels under our feet," Raemer stated," and added, "Imagine being in New York and a terrorist popping up from a sewer all of a sudden and spraying people all around with machine gun fire."
Even before that, the United Nations knew about the situation.
Ten years ago, the Israel Defense Forces showed then-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon the evidence.
"I was shocked and alarmed by this underground tunnel, which had been used for penetration for terrorist purposes," he declared. "I have been repeatedly condemning these rocket attacks from Hamas by the air."
While visiting Kibbutz Nirim, he met the family of Daniel Trager, a four-year-old killed in a Hamas mortar attack.
Recently, at the fence where Hamas terrorists broke through to enter her community, Raemer reflected on life before 2005.
"We used to go into a car on a Saturday and drive out to the beach, go to the open-air market in Gaza," she remembered, "And (Palestinian) Gazans used to come over here and work. I spoke to a Gazan who worked on my kitchen 20 years ago. And I asked them, it must be hard because you have to get up really early in the morning to cross over into the security checks, and he said, 'Yeah, but at least I can put food on my table and clothe my children.'"
She recalled that conversation while trapped in her bomb shelter on October 7th.
"As I was sitting in the safe room with my son holding down that handle, I was wondering to myself, where are all the good Gazans? Where are they? How is this happening?"
Raemer admitted it would take a lot for her to work for peace again.
"They have to earn back my trust, if ever," she insisted. "So, yes, everybody has to earn back my trust. Also, the IDF, who let the ball drop on October 7th. Not on purpose. Yeah. But there were many, many mistakes that were fatal. Mistakes that were made that day that cannot ever, ever happen again."
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***
Did you know?
God is everywhere—even in the news. That’s why we view every news story through the lens of faith. We are committed to delivering quality independent Christian journalism you can trust. But it takes a lot of hard work, time, and money to do what we do. Help us continue to be a voice for truth in the media by supporting CBN News for as little as $1.
Support CBN News
