Hi, I'm Naomi, a 16-year-old from Haifa. Five months ago, on Saturday 7.10, I woke up in the morning and saw my parents in front of the TV watching the news, which never happens. I asked them what happened, and they told me that a war had broken out, that there was an infiltration of terrorists from Gaza in the south and that there were alarms. In that day my Scouts tribe called for whoever could come to organize the tribe for reserve soldiers who would come to sleep there that night.
During the month we were at home and studied on Zoom. I didn;t allow myself to go out because I was very scared, this situation was very shocking, and I felt safer at home. All this time I was talking to the young kids that I guide in the Scouts, and we did the activities on Zoom as well. Despite the difficulty, it was important to give them some sort of routine and a safe place and forget for a little about the situation outside.
Little by little, time passes, and because I live in a quite calm place, the return to routine was quick. At first it was a bit strange, but we slowly got used to it. Now there are those who say that the war is not so close to them, but I don't think that is true. I think that the war directly affects everyone who lives in Israel in one way or another because it is such a significant and life-changing thing. I can say about myself that there are many things that I see differently than how I saw them before the war in many respects.
Last week I went for the first time to the Kidnapped Square in Tel Aviv, I looked at the exhibits there and we even talked to Nadav Rudaif, the son of Lior Rudaif, who is currently being held captive in Gaza. He told us his experience from the beginning of the war, about how his little brother was at the Nova party and managed to escape from the horrors that happened there.
Last week on 7.3, we commemorated five months to the start of the war. It is terribly amazing how much time has passed, and it is infuriating that not all of the hostages have returned home to Israel, that not the whole world sees the situation as it is, and that anti-Semitism is increasing in the world.
I hope for better days soon and for the return of all the hostages home.
