Judy, who works and studies at Ben-Gurion University, describes what happened one day after a class with a favorite lecturer, She stayed behind to chat with the lecturer, who on her way home was hit by a rocket.

"What would have happened," Judy asked herself, "if I hadn't held her up for a those couple of minutes? Would she have been safe or would she have been dead? It is very difficult to shake off a feeling of guilt like this one, especially after three weeks of running into shelters with a maximum of 60 seconds warning."

"We now have a cease fire, but personally I still feel under siege. Hamas and Fatah can take it into their heads to escalate any minute. I have given up hope not only for my generation to know peace, but also for my children's generation, and I am afraid to hope for my grandchildren."

Dave, who himself served as an army medic in two previous wars, sat this one out at Urim. The kibbutz was relatively lucky, as most of the Grad rockets that flew over Urim went on to other targets. Only at the very end did rockets hit the kibbutz fields, causing some damage to a plot of potatoes.

Like his sister Judy, Dave is not optimistic about the future, arguing that the war only fulfilled a fraction of its objectives. "Hamas militants hid and ran away, so few were killed or captured. Lots and lots of munitions were discovered and destroyed, but not even close to all of them. Besides, Iran is trying to smuggle in more. Hamas remains the ruling power in Gaza and Gilad Shalit is still its prisoner.