Six people are being treated for shock after 2-3 Kassam rockets landed in the western Negev city of Sderot this morning. The rockets landed in the city's Rakefet neighborhood and on Moshe Rabbeinu St. The barrage followed an earlier attack of two rockets that landed in open fields near the city, causing no damage.
Sderot has been bombarded with rockets well over 50 times in the past three years, and two people - including a 3-year-old boy - were killed in one Kassam attack a month ago. IDF forces have entered northern Gaza several times in response to waves of Kassam attacks, most recently after last month's fatal attack. Sderot resident Yehuda Ben-Chaim told Voice of Israel Radio, "If the IDF would retaliate each time with artillery towards Gaza, things would be different. But it seems obvious that the IDF and the government won't approve such a step."
Sderot Deputy Mayor Shai Ben-Yaish told Arutz-7 today that he sees no way, other than what the IDF is currently doing, to solve the immediate problem:
"I serve in the IDF as a commander, and I can tell you that it makes its decisions in a professional manner; I trust the IDF with my eyes closed. The problem is that this is not something that can be solved in one shot; what, should we become like them and fire rockets into residential centers? ... They are able to manufacture explosives in any house, even without the arms-smuggling tunnels, and the army has to work very meticulously and cautiously, seeking out the terror cells and destroying them. This is one of the principles of warfare - continuity and consistency... Still, I hope and am confident that the army is looking for ways to do this even more effectively. At the same time, our residential centers have to be supported with psychologists and social workers, to help the residents deal with the ever-increasing fears and even panic that is beginning to set in."
A spokesman for the municipality, Pinchas Cohen, said, "The situation is clearly deteriorating, even though the IDF is currently deployed in northern Gaza." He said that he does not have any solutions to offer, other than what the IDF is already doing, "unless they were to totally take over Beit Hanoun, instead of just going in and out." [The army has been deployed in the northern Gaza area for over a month - ed.] Asked what he would do if residents would arrive at City Hall and demand security, the spokesman said,
"We would tell them to make these demands of the Defense Minister... I don't see signs that there will be public demonstrations or the like. The problem is that there are great fears: no one can ever know where a rocket will fall. I shudder to think what it will be like if there is a withdrawal from Gaza, as the Prime Minister plans."
Sderot has been bombarded with rockets well over 50 times in the past three years, and two people - including a 3-year-old boy - were killed in one Kassam attack a month ago. IDF forces have entered northern Gaza several times in response to waves of Kassam attacks, most recently after last month's fatal attack. Sderot resident Yehuda Ben-Chaim told Voice of Israel Radio, "If the IDF would retaliate each time with artillery towards Gaza, things would be different. But it seems obvious that the IDF and the government won't approve such a step."
Sderot Deputy Mayor Shai Ben-Yaish told Arutz-7 today that he sees no way, other than what the IDF is currently doing, to solve the immediate problem:
"I serve in the IDF as a commander, and I can tell you that it makes its decisions in a professional manner; I trust the IDF with my eyes closed. The problem is that this is not something that can be solved in one shot; what, should we become like them and fire rockets into residential centers? ... They are able to manufacture explosives in any house, even without the arms-smuggling tunnels, and the army has to work very meticulously and cautiously, seeking out the terror cells and destroying them. This is one of the principles of warfare - continuity and consistency... Still, I hope and am confident that the army is looking for ways to do this even more effectively. At the same time, our residential centers have to be supported with psychologists and social workers, to help the residents deal with the ever-increasing fears and even panic that is beginning to set in."
A spokesman for the municipality, Pinchas Cohen, said, "The situation is clearly deteriorating, even though the IDF is currently deployed in northern Gaza." He said that he does not have any solutions to offer, other than what the IDF is already doing, "unless they were to totally take over Beit Hanoun, instead of just going in and out." [The army has been deployed in the northern Gaza area for over a month - ed.] Asked what he would do if residents would arrive at City Hall and demand security, the spokesman said,
"We would tell them to make these demands of the Defense Minister... I don't see signs that there will be public demonstrations or the like. The problem is that there are great fears: no one can ever know where a rocket will fall. I shudder to think what it will be like if there is a withdrawal from Gaza, as the Prime Minister plans."