Silence has dominated the streets of Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, where crows can be heard even during rush hour.
Expectant of what could happen, the population has remained silent and nervous, often with their hands on their cell phones so as not to miss any emergency alert, sent directly from an application that citizens have installed on their mobile device.
The scenario is one of war and, despite being a more protected region, some rockets have already fallen in the upper part of Jerusalem and near residential areas.
Still, as it is a city with a strong religious nature – for both Palestinians and Israelis – the belief that any large-scale attack on Jerusalem will be avoided hangs in the air.
Abandoned buildings make up the landscape of deserted streets, as much of the heavy lifting was done by Palestinians, currently surrounded in the Gaza Strip, and also some Israeli Arabs, who are contained due to police control.
This was also the time for students to return to academic life, but the school year was postponed, especially since most young people were called to fight.
A large number of shopping centers are closed out of fear of owners, who do not want to subject workers to working in conditions that are not considered the safest. Supply shortages are not, for now, a problem in the city, although the variety may not be as great.
The lack of traffic also does not hide the population’s desire to stay protected and the few foreigners who still pass through try to get a flight back to their homeland.
Regarding the siege of the Gaza Strip, the population’s feeling is that it is “an hermetic seal.” Nothing comes out and nothing comes in.
Several institutions have called for the opening of a human corridor, as a ground invasion of Gaza increasingly looks like the likely solution to free the hostages. The biggest concern is to avoid slaughter, so in case of opening, it must be done quickly.
Experts warn, however, that it is difficult to imagine a border corridor that allows the passage, in safe conditions, of two million people, with the aggravating factor that it will have to be carried out in a short period of time.
Source: TSF
