Ido Avigal
Ido AvigalCourtesy of the family

Three months after the conclusion of Operation Guardian of the Walls, the rocket-proof window of the protected room in which five-year-old Ido Avigal lost his life has finally been replaced. Although both the metal shutter and the window itself were closed at the time of the attack, rocket shards managed to penetrate both layers of defense, killing the young boy.

Following the incident, the Home Front Command conducted an investigation of the incident and determined that the window did not meet with the required standards.

Ido and his family had been sheltering in the room after the Red Alert sounded in their community of Sderot.

The Home Front Command then issued a recommendation to replace all the windows of protected rooms in the Gaza periphery communities, using 32mm-thick glass – however, the cost of the repairs will not be covered by the government, meaning that any family who wishes to ensure that they are adequately protected from the frequent rocket fire out of Gaza must pay over a thousand shekels to replace the glass of the windows.

Meanwhile, only the windows of the building in which the Avigal family was sheltering, along with those of neighboring buildings, are being replaced. Other buildings, even those that sustained extensive damage during the recent operation, have yet to commence the work to install the necessary upgrades.