Terrorists in Gaza attacked Israel with five Kassam rockets Tuesday morning. Two rockets landed in fields just outside Sderot, and two landed near a factory in the city. A fifth one later caused heavy damage to an empty chicken coop in a community south of Ashkelon; it landed only minutes after he and his workers had left the structure.
Coop owner Ofer Beider told Ynet, "Just last week, fortunately, we sent out a shipment of all the chicks from the coop, and we were now preparing for new ones." He said heavy damage had been caused to the structure and to the electricity supply.
"It's a disgrace that we have to protect and reinforce ourselves all the time," Beider said, "and that we have to take all this firing. If we would at least know that a widespread military campaign was going on at the same time, this would comfort us a little."
1,150 Kassams in 2007
The IDF's Homefront Commander, Gen. Ya'ir Golan, told the Knesset Audit Committee that in 2007, Palestinian terrorists had fired 1,150 Kassam rockets at Israel's western Negev and areas south of Ashkelon. He expressed criticism of the government's reactions to the attacks, though he noted that in 2006, the number of Kassams fired at Israel was some 500 higher than last year.
The Sderot Media Center reported that the town has been hit with 6,616 rockets since the start of the Oslo War more than seven years ago.
An IDF spokesman said an Arab terrorist had opened fire on Israeli troops from across the central Gaza border fence on Tuesday morning. "The soldiers returned fire and hit him," the spokesman said.
A woman in Sderot sustained mild injuries on Monday evening, and at least 10 Israelis were treated for shock, after a Kassam rocket hit the city. The Popular Resistance Committees and Islamic Jihad's military wing claimed responsibility for the fire.