Kfar Aza residents following attack
Photo: Amir Cohen
Jimmy Kdoshim
Reproduction photo: Amir Cohen
Mortar landing site
Photo: Ben Cohen
Kfar Aza residents 'startled by any door slamming'
Kibbutz members find it difficult to come to terms with their friend's death by Palestinian mortar shell. 'We cannot continue living under fire without proper fortification,' one resident says
Residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza are finding it difficult to come to terms with the death of their friend, 48-year-old Jimmy Kdoshim, who was killed
by a mortar shell Friday evening while working in his garden.
"We can't continue living without fortification. Every door slamming makes people sweat," one of the residents said Saturday, noting once again that the kibbutz members live under ongoing fire without fortification or an alert system, not far from the Palestinian rocket cells.
Ongoing Fire
Ynet reporters
Fourteen rockets fired from Gaza since morning hours, one causes heavy damage to building. Two other Qassams land near synagogue, educational institution. Earlier, IDF kills five Hamas gunmen in southern Strip town of Rafah following mortar attack which left member of Kibbutz Kfar Aza dead
Friends and family members flocked to Jimmy Kdoshim's home Saturday morning to comfort his wife Anna and their three children following the dreadful disaster.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak also visited Kdoshim's home on Saturday. Earlier, he met with local council heads, who complained to him about the lack of fortification and alert systems in the area.
Many of the kibbutz members left the place Friday in order to spend the weekend outside the Qassam range.
"It's very pastoral and green here, but it's all a lie. Most of the kibbutz members have yet to deal with what happened yesterday. Some talk about the fact that we have no fortification and nowhere to go to, no mortar alert," said Roni Steinbrecher, Jimmy Kdoshim's neighbor, who spoke to him minutes before his death.
"Life does have to on, but not like this," he added.
'Someone must wake up'
Kibbutz member Varda Goldstein said that Friday's disaster badly damaged the members' routine life. "The situation is escalating, and people are beginning to be more and more afraid. They are startled by any door slamming. Any car door slamming causes people to sweat."We are unfortified and we receive no aid from the State. The situation is becoming difficult," she explained.
A kibbutz emergency team, which includes social workers and psychologists, has been trying to help the members through talks and meeting. The fortified kindergartens and the community clubhouse were opened.
"Someone must wake up," said kibbutz member Orly Regev. As opposed to Sderot's residents, she said, the kibbutz members receive no warning before rockets land near them and have no way to defend themselves.
"We cannot go on living without fortification. A new procedure was issued following yesterday's incident, stating that the resident must immediately enter their houses upon the landing of the first mortar shell, which will serve as our own Color Red alert system," she added.
