21-Jul-06: Tzav Shmoneh

Thousands of "you're called up" notices are being issued by the IDF as we write these lines. Known by the familiar Hebrew expression Tzav 8, the dreaded notice requires that the reservist who receives it drop everything and just turn up at his assigned place, ready for military duty.

It's a feature of life in Israel where a significant portion of the country's self-defence capability is based on compulsory military reserves duty.

It's the eve of the Sabbath, late in the afternoon of an otherwise beautiful summer day. But it's also a day on which a massive Katyusha bombardment has struck downtown Haifa in the past hour, causing extensive damage to property (mostly private residences) and serious injuries to Israeli human beings: at least 19 of them are injured.

In fact the third bombardment of the day is underway in Haifa, with the air-raid sirens shrieking, as we write this (5.10 pm, Friday).