In today's second attack, no damage or casualties were reported - other than the mental anguish and fear of thousands of residents running for shelter at the sounding of the "Color Red" rocket warning system.
Just over an hour earlier, four Kassam rockets fired from Gaza landed in Sderot and the Shaar HaNegev area. Yaakobovitch suffered a very serious head wound caused by shrapnel. Although his condition was later described as having stabilized, in anticipation of an operation at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, the Sderot resident subsequently died of his wounds.
The rocket landed in a chicken-production facility, and a large fire broke out in the factory. One worker said that it was fortunate that the rocket hit just as the workers were taking a break, "because we can't hear the 'Color Red' warning from inside. We heard it this time because we were outside, and most of us were able to run for cover."
Hamas and Islamic Jihad competed for responsibility for the attack, issuing announcements that they would continue attacking "the settlement of Sderot."
This is the fifth serious casualty in the past several days. On Sunday morning,
shrapnel from one of the deadly projectiles hit one person, causing him moderate-to-serious injuries. On Thursday, a 17-year-old youth was seriously wounded by rocket shrapnel in his stomach. The day before, Fatima Slutzker - a Moslem woman who had immigrated to Israel with her Jewish husband - was killed by a Kassam rocket, and Maor Peretz, a guard at the home of Sderot resident Defense Minister Amir Peretz, was seriously injured in the same attack; both of his legs were subsequently amputated below the knee.
MK Limor Livnat (Likud) said today that the government clearly has no answers for the deteriorating situation in the Negev, and should therefore resign. Asked what answers she would recommend, she said, "We disengaged from Gaza over a year ago, and the government promised at the time that further attacks from Gaza would be met with an iron fist." The time has come, Livnat said.
Late Tuesday evening, three more Kassam rockets were launched by Palestinian Authority terrorists in northern Gaza at communities in the western Negev. One landed close to Sderot, the second was found near Kissufim and the third landed near Kibbutz Zikim. No one was injured and no damage was reported in any of the locations.
Three armed Palestinian terrorists were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since last night. Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded in an attack on their tank in Gaza today, and 11 Arabs were reported wounded in an explosion in Beit Hanoun. PA sources said the 11 were hurt by Israel Air Force fire, but IDF sources said they knew of no such attack.
Education Minister Yuli Tamir visited Sderot on Monday to explore the difficult circumstances faced by school staff, parents and children. Tamir met with school principals and teachers, and discovered that only half of the city’s school children attend classes. Of those, many are suffering from anxiety and other post-traumatic stress symptoms while struggling to prepare for the bagrut (matriculation exams).
A number of students who begin the day at school are often picked up by parents and brought home when the Kassam rocket attacks begin. Others are kept home by their parents if rockets hit the area that morning.
The Education Minister was told by one principal of system-wide problems that other cities do not face. "For instance," he said, "if a child arrives at school early, he usually plays outside until classes start [in other cities]. Here, someone has to look after the children from the moment they get here. They cannot be left unattended."
Despite the fact that the municipality has chosen not to transfer most of the students to schools in other areas outside the range of the rockets, Miriam Sassi, the head of Sderot's education department says, "The situation is very problematic. We can hardly hold classes here."
Tamir said she would do what she could to help Sderot's schools.
A number of other officials visited Sderot in a gesture of solidarity on Monday, including the heads of the Yesha [Judea and Samaria] settlement movements.
Bentzi Lieberman, Ze'ev Hever and Pinchas Wallerstein told Mayor Eli Moyal that they had a lot in common. “We, who are suffering from terror attacks and a fragile security situation,” said one of the Yesha representatives, “are very familiar with the reality you live in. The town should be strengthened and its neglect should be opposed. Sderot must not be abandoned, and most importantly, a solution for the Kassam fire must be found.”
Moyal described the economic hardships faced by business owners in the city. 14% of the manufacturers in Sderot say they plan to leave the city, according to the Globes business news website. The Manufacturers Association of Israel said last week that rocket attacks have cost areas businesses some NIS 40 million over the past three years.
The findings of a recent survey on the situation were grim: 64% of the factories have lost customers due to the rocket fire, 60% said productivity is down due to stressed-out workers and 93% suffer from absenteeism.
The Yesha visitors said they would work on ways to help the city, including sending young volunteers to help the city and the possibility of a special campaign to encourage their own constituency to purchase products from Sderot.
The mayor told his guests that it is crucial that the government find a solution, “because if Sderot falls, this will be the end of Zionism.”
He was also clear that Sderot would not be alone if it does not survive the unending attacks: “Today it is Sderot. Tomorrow, Ashkelon and Ashdod, and later other cities.”
Just over an hour earlier, four Kassam rockets fired from Gaza landed in Sderot and the Shaar HaNegev area. Yaakobovitch suffered a very serious head wound caused by shrapnel. Although his condition was later described as having stabilized, in anticipation of an operation at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, the Sderot resident subsequently died of his wounds.
The rocket landed in a chicken-production facility, and a large fire broke out in the factory. One worker said that it was fortunate that the rocket hit just as the workers were taking a break, "because we can't hear the 'Color Red' warning from inside. We heard it this time because we were outside, and most of us were able to run for cover."
Hamas and Islamic Jihad competed for responsibility for the attack, issuing announcements that they would continue attacking "the settlement of Sderot."
This is the fifth serious casualty in the past several days. On Sunday morning,
shrapnel from one of the deadly projectiles hit one person, causing him moderate-to-serious injuries. On Thursday, a 17-year-old youth was seriously wounded by rocket shrapnel in his stomach. The day before, Fatima Slutzker - a Moslem woman who had immigrated to Israel with her Jewish husband - was killed by a Kassam rocket, and Maor Peretz, a guard at the home of Sderot resident Defense Minister Amir Peretz, was seriously injured in the same attack; both of his legs were subsequently amputated below the knee.
MK Limor Livnat (Likud) said today that the government clearly has no answers for the deteriorating situation in the Negev, and should therefore resign. Asked what answers she would recommend, she said, "We disengaged from Gaza over a year ago, and the government promised at the time that further attacks from Gaza would be met with an iron fist." The time has come, Livnat said.
Late Tuesday evening, three more Kassam rockets were launched by Palestinian Authority terrorists in northern Gaza at communities in the western Negev. One landed close to Sderot, the second was found near Kissufim and the third landed near Kibbutz Zikim. No one was injured and no damage was reported in any of the locations.
Three armed Palestinian terrorists were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since last night. Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded in an attack on their tank in Gaza today, and 11 Arabs were reported wounded in an explosion in Beit Hanoun. PA sources said the 11 were hurt by Israel Air Force fire, but IDF sources said they knew of no such attack.
Education Minister Yuli Tamir visited Sderot on Monday to explore the difficult circumstances faced by school staff, parents and children. Tamir met with school principals and teachers, and discovered that only half of the city’s school children attend classes. Of those, many are suffering from anxiety and other post-traumatic stress symptoms while struggling to prepare for the bagrut (matriculation exams).
A number of students who begin the day at school are often picked up by parents and brought home when the Kassam rocket attacks begin. Others are kept home by their parents if rockets hit the area that morning.
The Education Minister was told by one principal of system-wide problems that other cities do not face. "For instance," he said, "if a child arrives at school early, he usually plays outside until classes start [in other cities]. Here, someone has to look after the children from the moment they get here. They cannot be left unattended."
Despite the fact that the municipality has chosen not to transfer most of the students to schools in other areas outside the range of the rockets, Miriam Sassi, the head of Sderot's education department says, "The situation is very problematic. We can hardly hold classes here."
Tamir said she would do what she could to help Sderot's schools.
A number of other officials visited Sderot in a gesture of solidarity on Monday, including the heads of the Yesha [Judea and Samaria] settlement movements.
Bentzi Lieberman, Ze'ev Hever and Pinchas Wallerstein told Mayor Eli Moyal that they had a lot in common. “We, who are suffering from terror attacks and a fragile security situation,” said one of the Yesha representatives, “are very familiar with the reality you live in. The town should be strengthened and its neglect should be opposed. Sderot must not be abandoned, and most importantly, a solution for the Kassam fire must be found.”
Moyal described the economic hardships faced by business owners in the city. 14% of the manufacturers in Sderot say they plan to leave the city, according to the Globes business news website. The Manufacturers Association of Israel said last week that rocket attacks have cost areas businesses some NIS 40 million over the past three years.
The findings of a recent survey on the situation were grim: 64% of the factories have lost customers due to the rocket fire, 60% said productivity is down due to stressed-out workers and 93% suffer from absenteeism.
The Yesha visitors said they would work on ways to help the city, including sending young volunteers to help the city and the possibility of a special campaign to encourage their own constituency to purchase products from Sderot.
The mayor told his guests that it is crucial that the government find a solution, “because if Sderot falls, this will be the end of Zionism.”
He was also clear that Sderot would not be alone if it does not survive the unending attacks: “Today it is Sderot. Tomorrow, Ashkelon and Ashdod, and later other cities.”