Heavy Qassam barrages hit Negev
Six people hurt in rocket attacks on western Negev Wednesday evening, three buildings damaged in Sderot. Defense Minister Barak vows IDF will increase pressure against terrorists, do maximum to stop Qassam fire
Another day of rockets in Negev: At least six people were hurt Wednesday evening after several Qassam barrages landed in and around Sderot and south of Ashkelon.
Five people suffered shock and a woman was lightly injured after being hit by a passing vehicle while running to take cover from the rockets.
The woman was evacuated to Barzilai hospital for treatment.
Some 50 Qassam rockets landed in Sderot and its vicinity since the morning hours.
An exceptionally heavy salvo hit the western Negev in the afternoon hours, as rockets kept pounding Sderot, Ashkelon and their surroundings. The rockets caused damages to two buildings and a factory in Sderot.
No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak commented on the situation in the south Wednesday evening, saying, "We increased, and will increase, the pressure and the targeted operations against terrorists. This isn’t simple, but we are doing the maximum to hit terror operatives in order to stop the Qassam attacks."
Barak also commended the residents of the western Negev for their resilience in face of the attacks.
Damage caused by Qassam in Sderot (Photo: Reuters)
Meanwhile, Sderot's residents have been showing little enthusiasm towards millionaire Arcadi Gaydamak's recent initiative to move 200 of the town's children to a guest house near Jerusalem.
The few that have accepted the offer to leave explained that life in Sderot were getting to scary for them. "The last two days have been very frightening," said 14-year-old Chen Edry before boarding the bus to Jerusalem. "The alert system went off almost all the time. That's why I decided to go, to at least have some peace and quiet for a few days."
Most of the rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip in recent days have been carried out by Hamas' military wing. Khlaed Mashaal, head of the organization's political branch, said Wednesday that Israel's strikes would not cause Hamas to waive its demands regarding a hostage exchange deal.
Mashaal also slammed domestic criticism surrounding the ineffectiveness of the inaccurate Qassam rockets fired from Gaza into Israel: "If you call these rockets useless, then by all means, provide us with better rockets – with advanced missiles, so that we may use them."
Ahiya Raved contributed to the report
