Grad missile in Ashkelon
Photo: Amir Cohen
Ashdod residents under missile threat
Home Front Command hands out leaflets to inhabitants of port city, additional southern communities, explaining how to prepare for rocket attacks from Gaza. Move launched for fear terror organizations have managed to significantly increase rocket launching range, to up to 30 km
Hundreds of thousands of residents are facing a new threat: The Home Front Command recently handed out leaflets to the residents of the port city of Ashdod, the town of Kiryat Malachi and several other communities, explaining the ways to properly prepare for missile attacks.
A Home Front Command official told Ynet that "the bulletins were distributed due to our assumption that proper preparedness will be helpful when the need arises."
The move was launched for fear that terror organizations in the Gaza Strip have managed to significantly increase their rocket launching range, to up to 30 kilometers (18.6 miles).
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The leaflets explain who to prepare a protected space in one's house against the missile threat and how to act when an air raid siren is sounded.
The Home Front Command handed out some 30,000 leaflets in the new region under threat, explaining that the plan was to equip residents with the required information.
"Due to the possibility that rockets will also reach your residential area, preparing and helping your family prepare for difficulties which are not familiar in daily life is essential," the leaflet said, calling on the residents to locate the protected space in their homes.
The defense establishment has been preparing for an expansion of the missile and rocket threat from Gaza for some time now. A wide-scale drill was held in Ashdod in July, simulating rockets landing in the city.
Terror organizations have "stepped up" their attacks in the past few years, with Grad missiles fired at the city of Ashkelon and other areas.
One of the bloodiest attacks took place about half a year ago, when a rocket hit a clinic in an Ashkelon mall and left 15 people injured. In another incident, which ended without injuries, a Grad rocket landed near the home of Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter.
Shmulik Hadad contributed to this report
