In spite of Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal's declaration that the city would not be evacuated, more than 6,000 residents have left their houses in the past few days.
These figures, which are based on data collected by the Sderot Municipality, are much higher than reports received over the weekend that only 2,500 residents (out of 23,000) have left.
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Dozens of angry residents of Qassam-stricken town attack mayor for his conduct on evacuation. Mayor Eli Moyal says shelters in dire condition |
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Some 4,000 people left the southern town according to the municipality's listings and thousands others have left through private and public initiatives, Sderot Municipality spokesperson Yossi-Pinhas Cohen said Sunday morning.
Last week, while Mayor Eli Moyal held a press conference, dozens of residents barged into his office and claimed that they could not leave the city and take a break from the unbearable rocket routine.
According to them, many of those who left "on behalf of the municipality" were no even Sderot residents, causing dozens of people to wait for hours with their bags and suitcases for buses which never arrived.
Over the weekend, a number of buses arrived in the city to pick up residents and take them to neighboring cities, but it was unclear which residents were supposed to get on the buses .The situation caused a commotion and put the waiting residents at risk of being hit by Qassam rockets.
Pinhas-Cohen explained that in order to prevent such problems, the municipality opened a special center to collect the data of residents leaving the city.
"We want to prevent ugly acts in which people who are not residents of the city or who are not entitled to leave, try to leave the city for a break from the Qassams," he said.
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