Vietnamese people talk about the shelter that "activated" wartime lifestyle in Israel
Báo Dân trí•30/09/2024
(Dan Tri) - While sitting and chatting, Ms. Son suddenly heard a missile alarm. The whole family quickly ran into the shelter. About 1 minute later, Ms. Son heard a series of loud explosions.
The important bunker "activates" wartime lifestyle These days, Ms. Son Nguyen's phone (living in Haifa, Israel) regularly receives text messages and calls. Relatives in Vietnam, fellow Vietnamese and staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel text every day to ask about Ms. Son's family situation amid escalating tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. Having been married and living in Israel for 30 years, Ms. Son clearly understands that Israel is a political hotspot. The persistent conflict between Israel and neighboring countries causes people living in this country like Ms. Son to "activate" a "wartime" lifestyle every few years, sometimes a few months. Israelis run to shelters when they hear missile attack sirens on September 28 (Photo: Kim Golbari). Haifa city where Ms. Son lives is located in northern Israel, about 50km from the Lebanese border. This is considered one of the main attacks of Hezbollah forces because Haifa is a port city with a military presence. According to the announcement of the Vietnamese Embassy in Israel, on September 22-23, Hezbollah forces launched about 150-160 rockets and drones every day into cities in northern Israel (Haifa, Nazareth, Afula, Jezreel Valley...), some places 50km from the border. This is considered the largest and deepest attack on Israeli territory by Hezbollah forces since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023. Ms. Son also said that the situation around her living area is more tense than in previous months, sirens are sounding in many areas. There was even a rocket attack by Hezbollah forces near her house. Ms. Son Nguyen said that on the evening of September 23, while her family was sitting and chatting, they suddenly heard an alarm. The whole family quickly ran into the shelter in the house. Sitting in the shelter for about 1 minute, Ms. Son heard a series of loud explosions. When the attack ended, many of her Vietnamese friends in Israel said that the explosion happened near where they lived, the explosion was so loud right above their heads that even though they were sitting in the shelter, they could still hear it very clearly. The room is the shelter of Ms. Son's family (Photo: Character provided). According to Ms. Son, Israel is often involved in conflicts and fighting, so the government of this country always focuses on ensuring the safety of its people by organizing annual training on escape and evacuation skills. These are also the first skills that children learn when they go to school. In particular, every house, school, apartment building, hospital, and office has a shelter for people to take shelter in case of a missile attack. A Vietnamese family's shelter in Northern Israel (Photo: Character provided). Ms. Son said: "The bunker is designed as the underground floor, the bottom floor of buildings and single-family homes. For convenience in taking shelter, many families living in apartments and ground-level houses also design their own bunkers in their homes." According to Ms. Son, in the apartment or house, in addition to the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms, her family has a separate room as a bunker. The bunker is built more specifically than other rooms in terms of materials, wall structure, and window design... The construction process complies with government safety regulations, and is inspected by technical units during construction and after completion to ensure it is safe enough to withstand bullets and missiles. In the bunker, Ms. Son keeps drinking water, stored food, and many basic essentials. The basement has a standard designed door system (Photo: Character provided). " 10 missiles flew over but were intercepted" According to Ms. Son, the armed attacks and airstrikes here will probably be different from what many people imagine. The reason is that both sides apply technology and advanced air defense systems when attacking or intercepting. The path or target of the attack is predicted by Israel in advance and with the warning system, people will have time to move and take shelter. The Israeli air defense system that Ms. Son mentioned is Iron Dome. This is a short-range system that has intercepted thousands of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fired by Hamas and Hezbollah, two armed groups with links to Iran, over the past few years. Iron Dome operates based on a radar system and analysis to determine whether a missile target poses a threat or not. This system only deploys interceptor missiles if it determines that an incoming missile is at risk of hitting a populated area or important infrastructure. However, the Iron Dome also has limitations because some missiles have penetrated the air defense system. Extremely short-range missiles can also pose a threat to the Iron Dome. "When there are missiles or artillery shells, the detection radar will track and the system will send notifications to people's phones , on the media, and sound the alarm. Notifications can be issued 1-2 minutes, 1-2 hours or many hours in advance. This is very important to help people move to a safe place before the weapons arrive. The explosions we hear are due to the airborne interception and suppression system. Thanks to that, the damage to people and property is reduced. We calmly respond to attacks," said Ms. Son. Most attacks are located and intercepted. However, worried about falling debris or deviations, Ms. Son still follows safety warnings and follows Israel's instructions. "On the morning of October 27, Hezbollah fired 10 rockets over Haifa but were intercepted by Israel. However, thanks to the multi-layered protection from the Iron Dome system to the shelter, luckily there was no damage," said Ms. Son. The street near where Ms. Son works is deserted (Photo: Character provided). Haifa, where Ms. Son lives, is located in the northern region. Therefore, for a week now, children have had to stay home from school. The city requires that no more than 30 people gather outdoors, no more than 100 people indoors, and that there must be a shelter. Many companies allow employees to work online, families limit going out, traveling on the road... Ms. Son works as a manager of Vietnamese students studying in Israel. These days, she does not go to the office but works online. The Vietnamese woman owns a restaurant. However, due to the intense fighting, the number of customers has also decreased, there are no tourists ... "My restaurant is famous in the area, so it has not been affected too much. Customers who cannot come to the store still order food from a shipper (delivery person) to deliver it to their home," Ms. Son said. At markets and supermarkets, shopping activities are still taking place normally. However, like Ms. Son, many families have followed the recommendation to stock up on enough food and dry goods for the whole month. According to Ms. Son, life in her city has fortunately not been too disrupted, many cities in the North near the border, hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated since 2023 and have not returned home for nearly a year now. The increasing frequency of artillery battles between Israel and Hezbollah recently has made Ms. Son worried about a full-scale attack if both sides expand the campaign. According to Ms. Son, Israel is a country worth exploring. In the picture is the city of Jericho, Israel, one of the oldest cities in the world (Photo: Phuoc Truong). Like many people, Ms. Son hopes that the fighting will end soon, and people can return home and live in peace. "I think that if there is no fighting or instability, Israel is a country worth living in, exploring andtraveling to because of its cool climate, sea, mountains, deserts and many beautiful landscapes. The people of this country have many similar personality traits to the Vietnamese, promoting community spirit, solidarity and always loving and helping others," Ms. Son shared.
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