SDEROT, Israel — This southern town of some 30,000 people is known for being on the front line of Palestinian rocket fire for two decades. But today, it is nearly completely empty for another reason: it is on the front lines of war.
Sderot was one of more than a dozen communities targeted by Palestinian Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. They set up roadblocks and ambushed civilian drivers, murdering them in the streets, dragging their bodies from they cars, and looting their vehicles.
A group of terrorists took over the city’s police station, where they engaged in a 20-hour firefight with Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) special forces. In the end, the IDF destroyed the station, killing the ten or so terrorists who had holed up inside.
Today, two-and-a-half weeks later, the spent ammunition still litters the sidewalk. Hamas 7.62 AK-47 rounds are intermingled with the IDF’s 5.56 NATO rounds, amid broken glass and debris. Cars parked nearby sit with windows shattered, abandoned by their owners.
An AK-47 casing is seen amid shattered glass against the background of the police station that was destroyed in the battle between Israel and Hamas terrorists Oct. 7-8. Sderot, Israel, October 24, 2023 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) special operations soldiers, their faces covered to protect their identities, recount the battle for Sderot in an interview with Israel’s local Channel 13. Sderot, Israel, October 24, 2023 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
Ofir Akunis, Israel’s minister of innovation, science, and technology told reporters that there would be a NIS 100 million ($25 million) fund to encourage high-tech industries to invest in the area in the aftermath of the war.
But that could be weeks, or months, away. And it depends on victory. Amichai Chikli, the minister of Diaspora affairs, said that the war that had been forced upon Israel was an “opportunity to reshape the security situation in the south.”
He added: “We have no intention to go back to a reality where we have to listen to “red alerts” and run into bomb shelters every six months.”
Emmanuel Nachshon, deputy director general for public diplomacy at Israel’s foreign ministry, tells reporters that the coal of the war is to “destroy” Hamas.
And they are here to film the effort.
On the edge of town, reporters line a ridge overlooking northern Gaza, watching the IDF conduct airstrikes. Smoke billows from distant buildings; loud bombs are heard, and TV reporters in flak jackets chatter excitedly as they narrate the scene.
Reporters from the international media line up on an overlook with a view of northern Gaza as Israel launches airstrikes and artillery strikes against Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip. Sderot, Israel, October 24, 2023 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
An odd spectacle: many of the on-camera reporters wear helmets and flak jackets, while most of the camera operators do not, though they are theoretically exposed to the same dangers of work in a war zone. Sderot, Israel, October 24, 2023 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
Smoke billows from a group of buildings in Northern Gaza after an Israeli airstrike, as seen from a ridge in Sderot, Israel, October 24, 2023 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
Back down the road, all is quiet. Playgrounds are silent; roundabouts are empty. Stray cats prowl the sidewalks, perhaps wondering where everyone has gone.
Public bomb shelter near apartment complex, which normally pedestrians a place to take cover when “red alert” sirens sound, indicating the imminent arrival of a rocket fired by terrorist groups. Residents may have as little as 15-30 seconds to find shelter. Sderot, Israel, October 24, 2023 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
Sukkot, traditional huts built for the Feast of Tabernacles, still standing two and-a-half weeks after the end of the holiday, which was also Oct. 7, the day Hamas attacked and killed over 1,200 Israelis, leading to the evacuation of Sderot and other affected towns. Sderot, Israel, October 24, 2023 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
As remote and desolate as Sderot is, it remains connected with the rest of Israel, and with Jewish communities around the world, who have suffered a wave of antisemitism. Many Jews in the western world have stayed home from school, or work, in recent weeks, due to threats from Hamas, and radical pro-Palestinian marches in the streets.
Chikli, standing in Sderot, has a message for them: “When we win this war, the reality will change in the streets of Paris and London.”
With victory — and nothing less — life will come back to Sderot, and fear will recede for Jews in other towns, in Israel and beyond.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.