Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatens Hamas leaders, plans shelters, and praises Sderot residents - while local yeshiva students visit their neighbors in a door-to-door campaign, offering help and encouragement.
Mr. Olmert said today (Sunday), during and after the weekly Cabinet meeting, that Israel must prepare for a long-term conflict with Hamas, "regardless of agreements that may be reached among the various factions [terrorist groups - ed.] in the Palestinian Authority."
During the Cabinet meeting, which was interrupted by the news of the Kassam death of Oshri Oz from Hod HaSharon, Olmert threatened, "No one who is involved in terrorism is immune... We will act according to our own timetable." He said the government is constantly in contact with other nations, and that the recent visit of EU representative Javier Solana to Sderot "contributed greatly to our public relations efforts."
The Prime Minister also signed an order declaring several towns around Gaza as eligible for special benefits, granting their residents financial help for direct or indirect damages they have suffered as a result of the Kassam rocket crisis. The order takes effect retroactively as of May 16, when the most recent Kassam rocket barrages began. 
The Yeshiva students offer a listening ear, toys and games for children, shopping... or sometimes just a message of Torah-based encouragement.
In addition, 200 security rooms will be built in Sderot each month, at a monthly cost of 22 million shekels. So announced Pinchas Buchris, the Director-General of the Defense Ministry. The government has come under sharp criticism for not spending monies that were allocated for reinforcing Sderot buildings.
Olmert also expressed appreciation to the 3,000 Sderot residents who chose to take advantage of the Defense Ministry's guest houses and not the tent city built in Tel Aviv by philanthropist Arcadi Gaydamak. "I admire the citizens who chose the Defense Ministry's guest houses instead of the tents," Olmert said.
Residents Helping Residents
Thousands of people, of course, have not left Sderot at all - some because they have no place to go, and some because they do not wish to leave. Among them are the students of the local Yeshiva, Yeshivat Hesder of Sderot, who have initiated the Yad BeYad (Hand in Hand) help campaign. Coordinator Liron Konyu told Arutz-7, "Our students go out in pairs - two pairs every two hours - to visit homes throughout the city; our goal is to cover the entire city, block by block. They offer a listening ear, toys and games for children, shopping, and whatever is needed. Sometimes it's as simple as just conveying a message of Torah-based encouragement."
Schools are not open in Sderot until further notice - some students are being bused to safer havens - and the Yeshiva is available to meet that need as well. "We run nurseries and meeting-places for the youth," Liron said, "in shelters around the city. We received one donation to make a 'calm corner' in one of the shelters, with soft couches and the like, for the youth to come and relax from their fears. With more donations, of course, we would be able to do much more..."
"We also work with other organizations," Liron said, "such as Lev Echad (One Heart), and volunteers from all over the country who either come or send items... We are also planning a city-wide gathering, together with the synagogues, for prayers and words of encouragement and strength from the rabbis."
Sderot yeshiva head Rabbi David Fendel, who has lived in Sderot with his wife and seven children for 12 years, said, "We are proud of our students, and feel privileged to be here at such a time, so that we can put into practice everything we believe in - studying Torah, Zionism, and giving to others."
Minister Eli Yishai of Shas
In a visit to Sderot following the death of Oshri Oz, Trade Minister Yishai of Shas said, "Every place from where Kassam rockets are fired must be identified, its residents must be told to leave, and it must be leveled to the ground."