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Photo: AP

3 Qassams hit western Negev

One rocket lands near school at entrance to Sderot causing panic, two others land in open areas. No injuries or damage reported

Three Qassam rockets were fired at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon. One rocket exploded at the entrance to Sderot, not far from a school, and caused a panic at the scene.

 

Another rocket landed within the Eshkol Regional Council and a third fell in Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No injuries or damage was caused.

 

Limor, a 10th-grader in the Sderot school near where the rocket landed, told Ynet, "In the middle of the lesson we heard a Color Red and then we heard a very loud explosion.

 

"We realized that a rocket had fallen right next to us. There was a big panic in the class. We have a student whose house got hit by a rocket not long ago, she really get hysterical.

 

"We rushed to the hallway, where they tried to calm some more girls that were hysterical. They tried to calm them down with water. We called our houses to see that everything was ok. It was very stressful…Afterwards they asked us to go back to class and try to continue our lesson. It was very difficult after that horrible experience."

 

In Eshkol Regional Council, where a rocket landed near a greenhouse, the farmers' are also put at risk.

 

"Fortunately there were no injuries and no damage was caused," said Shalom Boaron, owner of the greenhouses that have endured rocket attacks in the past that on one incident left a Thai worker injured.

 

"I don't know what will happen next," Boaron continued, "The Qassams keep getting closer. These greenhouses have Thai, Jewish and Arab workers. When the Qassam fell they all panicked, they called me and asked me what to do, but I didn't know what to tell them."

 

But it's not only Boaron's workers that are at risk. "We have no fortification, and I have two two-year-old children that live in the Qassams' range. I am going to get a private contractor for the job. I don't know what to do anymore; I am at my wit's end."

 

Council heads want 'price tag'

Earlier Sunday, three Qassam rockets and five mortar shells landed in open fields in the western Negev.

 

Six Qassam rockets and 10 mortar shells were fired on Israel over the weekend. After the weekend's attacks, heads of southern towns called for a response to the rockets.

 

Head of the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council Yair Farjoun said he his counterparts in the area expected a "price tag" be put on rockets following the escalation.

 

"The drizzle is becoming daily and routine and unfortunately we are not seeing any response. This situation cannot continue," Farjoun said.

 

At the start of Sunday's cabinet meeting Foreign Minister and Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni said, "There is no truce in Gaza. Anyone who calls it a truce doesn't know what's going on over there. Those responsible for security should act; I will act in the diplomatic channel."

 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said, "The situation in Gaza is familiar. This is a reality that calls for responsible consideration and statesmanship."

 

Responding to Livni's comment, Barak said, "I know this is a heated political season, and I am aware of the suffering of the residents and the reality of the rockets. The action will not be forgotten and the responsibility lies on me."

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.07.08, 13:50
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