Scenes from Ordinary Life in War Time

Connor Simpson

While the fighting between the Israelis and Palestinians continued Thursday evening with the two countries exchanging rocket fire, life for many citizens continued as normal. It can be easy to forget that life has to continue, even during war time. 

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This video shows Israel's Iron Drone defense system intercepting rockets from Gaza. While the images of the defense system in action are interesting (they look like fireflys), the rest of the video is even more intriguing.

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The decor where the video was shot is all in bright, vibrant colours. Usually we think of everything as grey, white, black of brown, but maybe it's time to change that. The video seems to be from a banquet or a lavish dinner party. There are guests cavorting in an area that resembles a kitchen, and there's even a pool nearby. If it wasn't for a slight sense of panic, and the air raid sirens, it seems like it might be a good party. 

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But it's not just limited to civilians. Soldiers, too, have to have to find something else to take their mind off things when they aren't fighting. While the older soldiers read books (probably), the younger ones do things more in line with their generation. Buzzfeed's Katie Notopoulos rounded up a nice collection of disarmingly calm looking young soldiers who took Instagram photos of themselves ("selfies") since the fighting started. 

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One girl manages to duck face in the face of war: 

While this boy naps the war off with his M16 by his side:

Unfortunately, ordinary life during wartime usually involves an increase in attending funerals. That's what the people in the picture at the top of this page are doing. They're attending the funeral of a friend who was killed in a rocket from Gaza.