Currently, Hamas has been shelling Southern Israeli towns with hundreds of Qassom missiles from their strongholds in Gaza and many believe further attack plans are being hatched by Hezbollah or Hamas. Last summer the Hezbollah war rained down thousands of rockets on innocent Israeli men, women and children, killing dozens, injuring over a thousand and displacing thousands more. In an attempt to avoid a repeat amid rumors of yet another summer war, Israeli towns and cities are appealing to Americans for help to save lives through a unique project called “Operation Lifeshield.”
“We found that many children playing outside at the time of a missile attack often could not find adequate and safe shelter before the missiles hit,” said Shep Alster, who along with Josh Alder started “Operation Lifeshield” after seeing first hand the devastation to innocent lives. ““Operation Lifeshield’s”
Operation Lifeshield provides transportable bomb shelters to cities and other areas that lack essential life-saving shelter in the event of an attack. Warnings from an air raid sirens give children or other civilians about 30 to 90 seconds to seek shelter before the missiles invoke their carnage. Seeing the immediate need for refuge and safety, Alster and Alder created an emergency campaign to facilitate donations for constructing air raid shelters calling the project “Operation Lifeshield”.
There is a huge demand for the 45-ton transportable shelters from areas that are unable to build underground shelters. Mayors of Acco, Haifa, Karmiel, Safed, Tiberias, Nahariya, and others have written letters requesting the shelters. Yona Yahav, Mayer of Haifa, which suffered 13 deaths from missile attacks last summer, said, “We need additional sheltering throughout the city…placing movable shelters in large concentrations of population …will save lives.” There is continuous danger from Gaza in the South from the actions of Hamas and the constant threat of Kassam missiles.
The stand-alone shelters have been built to specifications approved by the Israeli Defense Force Homefront Command. The above ground shelters, carrying the seal of the IDF Homefront Command, are built offsite and are transported to the area in need. They are constructed with walls and ceilings made of 12” thick steel reinforced solid concrete. Steel sheeting lines the interior walls and ceilings for additional strength.
Each shelter can hold up to 30 people during an air raid emergency and can be transported should security needs have to be met in another location. The shelters come standard with special armored steel door and window sets, exterior and interior lighting, electrical outlets, phone and cable outlets, and a generator hookup preparation. Upon certification each shelter then gets strategically placed in areas where civilians are most vulnerable.
The demand for these life saving shelters has been overwhelming, but neither the towns nor the Israeli government have the funds to provide the shelters. “Operation Lifeshield” was birthed to seek assistance from Americans who want to help save lives in Israel. To find out more about “Operation Lifeshield” shelters or to make a donation that will save the lives of innocent Israeli citizens, go to www.operationlifeshield.com, and make a donation today.
