Another Qassam hits Sderot

Rocket fired at southern town early Friday, after a house sustains direct Qassam hit Thursday night. Residents protest government inaction, security officials estimate Hamas to continue occasional rocket attacks
By Shmulik Hadad and Hanan Greenberg

SDEROT - Under fire: The “Red Dawn” siren again blared across the southern town of Sderot, after another Qassam rocket was fired at the community by Palestinian terrorists early Friday.

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The rocket apparently landed in an open area, causing no injuries or damages.

The Qassam-ravaged town is paying the price for trouble in the entire Middle East, Sderot mayor Eli Moyal commented wryly in a conversation with Ynet Friday morning, and said he has not yet seen a government response to the latest attack.

Town residents are increasingly concerned about the renewed rocket barrages targeted at their town. At one time, attacks on Sderot virtually stopped in the framework of the lull in Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Residents have already learned from bitter past experience that Palestinian terrorists tend to fire Qassams at Sdeort on Saturdays. Accordingly, security forces in town are particularly alert ahead of the weekend.

Moreover, several frustrated locals say they are also considering whether to join settler protests in the area and may even decide to burn tires and block intersections to express their displeasure with the lack of government action on the matter.

‘People were frightened’

Late Thursday, a Qassam rocket hit a house in Sderot, not far from the spot where two children were killed in a previous rocket attack.

Following the attack, dozens of local residents gathered to protest the continued attacks. Several police officers were called to the scene and conversed with the demonstrators.

Genadi Davidov, who lives near the house that sustained the direct hit, said he was at home at the time of the attack and heard the explosion.

“At our home, windows and doors were damaged,” he said. “It caused great panic on the street here, people went out and were very frightened.”

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz addressed the ongoing Qassam attacks in a meeting with senior security officials Thursday. During the session, Mofaz said the IDF must respond to every attack “decisively but proportionally.”

A senior IDF Southern Command officer told Ynet he expects the Hamas to continue the occasional rocket attacks, at least until the Gaza pullout is completed, in a bid to score political points