HAIFA (Israel): Ola Khalil wipes tears from her eyes as she talks of the salvo of Hezbollah rockets, one of which hit her neighbour’s house in Haifa.

“All we heard were two heavy booms and then there was just devastation,” Khalil, a 36-year-old mother, said amid the soft thudding of water sprinklers, damaged by the latest blast.

“My neighbour was hit. She was only married last month. How can we live in this state of fear anymore?”

Khalil is one of several residents of Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city and a major port, who are beginning to show signs of frustration at the government’s tactics against the Lebanese guerrilla group and at the rockets raining down.

With Hezbollah rockets hitting a range of towns and cities across the north, there is a growing sense of an escalating crisis that is steadily taking a larger and larger toll.

Compounding the problem are worries about the air raid warning systems not working properly. Eight people died on Sunday in Haifa because the sirens did not go off in time.

“The warning system failed to detect the missiles on Sunday and again today — we don’t even have those kind of assurances anymore,” said Haifa resident Daoud Jaan, 38.

That frustration is fuelling a sense among Haifa residents weary of being holed up at home or sleeping in bomb shelters that perhaps a new approach is needed to end the conflict.

“It’s not possible to live in Haifa at the moment. Businesses have come to a halt, everyone is cocooned. Everything has been frozen in time,” said Orna Shamir, 38.

“Haifa shouldn’t be the frontline but it is. I’m going to Tel Aviv with my two children just to take some time out.”

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has vowed to press on with the Lebanese offensive “as long as necessary” to free two soldiers captured by Hezbollah and ensure the Lebanese guerrilla group is not a threat.

Open calls for an immediate resolution to the situation have begun to emerge among some in Haifa, a city known for its peaceful co-existence between Arab and Jewish residents.

“Our government is doing nothing, only causing mayhem and waging a criminal war,” said Roni Badchish, 27. “Who feels it? We do every time a rocket blasts through one of our homes. We need an immediate ceasefire from both sides.”

While Israel has demanded an immediate return of its captured soldiers, some residents are suggesting talks.

“I don’t feel secure anymore,” said Itzik Shekel, 58. “I think political negotiations should be given a chance.”

In recent days, a group of women has gathered near Haifa’s hotel promenade for an evening vigil urging an end to the conflict.—Reuters