Israeli children return to school after war
KIBBUTZ SAAD — Thousands of Israeli children in areas near the Gaza Strip went back to school Monday after spending the summer in bomb shelters as rockets and mortars rained on their communities during the 50-day Israel- Hamas war, while schools in Gaza remained shuttered as the territory recovered from the fighting.
The start of school brought a sense of joy and excitement to rocket-scarred communities in southern Israel, but the signs of the fighting remained fresh. In the southern city of Ashdod, employees at the “Pashosh” kindergarten, which was struck by a rocket, removed shrapnel marks off the walls and slides ahead of the students’ arrival.
“We are a little scared but we are excited,” said Ronit Bart, a resident of Kibbutz Saad and an English teacher in its school. “A lot of children in our area really need to go back to a routine.”
Her 11-year-old daughter, Shani Bart, said it felt a “little bit weird” to suddenly be going back to school.
“There were some diffi- cult times and we didn’t leave our houses at all,” she said.
President Reuven Rivlin visited the kibbutz, which is located close to the Gaza border, to offer his support.
Until a cease-fire halted the war last week, thousands of residents of border commu- nities like Saad remained indoors or left their homes for safer areas further away from Gaza to escape rocket and mortar fire.
Many residents of Nahal Oz, a community close to the Gaza frontier where a 4-yearold boy was killed by a Palestinian mortar shell, are hesitant about coming back. The Education Ministry said about a dozen families still had not returned. Their children have been placed in alternate schools for the time being.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited a school in Sderot, a Gaza border town that has been hard hit by Palestinian fire. He urged the children to study hard and said “we will make sure to provide you with knowledge and provide you with security.”