The projectile landed in an open area in the western part of the city, not far from Mayor Eli Moyal's home. Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz phoned Moyal last night, and promised him that the Home Front Commander would pay a visit – and find out why the early-warning system in the city did not work.
Moyal implied that the early-warning system is only a small part of the problem. "This rocket could have killed someone," he said. "There must be a response by the government – perhaps not military, maybe more of a diplomatic nature."
Mayor Moyal expressed grave disappointment that Prime Minister Sharon, who delivered a speech in Tel Aviv shortly after the Kassam was fired, did not even mention it.
"If this is what they do during the hudna [temporary ceasefire]," one angry resident told Arutz-7 today, "then what can we expect afterwards?... It's ridiculous. Army officers have even told us that even after a withdrawal from Gaza, there will be years of deadly rockets from Gaza upon us. And after the disengagement, the IDF won't even be able to go in and stop them!"
The rage stems from other Kassam-related issues as well: "We all know that if this had happened in Tel Aviv, the army would have taken care of the problem in a flash. But here in Sderot, we're supposed to remain sitting ducks... And Sharon promised us funds to fix up shelters, and the like, and the mayor went ahead and carried out all sorts of work in the expectation that the money would be coming - and yet we haven't seen it. Municipal workers have not received salaries for three months!"
Five Sderot residents have been killed by Kassam rockets in the past several months. Nine months ago, Mordechai Yosifov, 49, and Afik Zahavi, a 3-year-old on his way to nursery, were killed by a Kassam, and this past September, cousins Dorit Aniso, 2, and Yuval Abebeh, 4, were killed as they were playing in their yard just as the Sukkot holiday was to begin. Sixteen-year-old Ella Abukasis became the fifth victim of Kassam rocket attacks in Sderot two months ago when she was hit on her way home from leading a Sabbath youth group.
"The fears have returned," Moyal said. "People thought that the worst was behind us, but now again children won't be able to sleep at night."
It was reported last week that the IDF Central Command is already preparing for the next round of armed conflict with the terrorists, which, it is assumed, will begin in September. According to army estimates, in the eight-month period between July 2004 and February 2005, over 3,000 assault rifles were smuggled into Gaza, as well as 400,000 bullets, 400 pistols, and 600 kilograms of explosives. In addition, over 180 anti-tank rocket launchers and 5 anti-aircraft rockets are now in the possession of the Palestinian terrorists.