The fire continues – A Qassam rocket landed early Saturday morning in the Eshkol Regional Council and damaged a house. No injuries were reported.
The Eshkol Regional Council spokesperson said another rocket apparently landed in an open field nearby.
"I knew I had to go to a fortified area, but I was a bit indifferent. I didn’t believe it would hit the house. When it fell there was a huge blast and the door and window flew in the air," he said.
'Terrifying moment'
The community that was hit is one of the four last communities in the Eshkol Regional Council that have yet to be installed with safe rooms, due to bureaucratic delays.
One of the houses sustained heavy damage, and the neighboring house was also lightly damaged.
The house hit by a Qassam rocket (Photo: Herzel Yosef)
The owners of the house were at their neighbor's home, while the son was in the house that was hit along with his pregnant wife and daughter.
The son, who as in the living room when the alarm was activated, ignored it because he "didn't believe it would fall on the house.
"After the blast I went to check on my wife and child. It was a terrifying moment – the moment you realize it fell close to your house," he said.
'I didn't believe it would hit our house.' (Photo: Herzel Yosef)
"Only after I saw the shrapnel wedged in the refrigerator and the oven I realized how stupid and lucky I was," he said, adding, "I used to live in Nahal Oz and had mortar shells fall on me for years, but for some reason after being away from the south for a while I have developed apathy."
The son's seven-month-pregnant wife said, "I sat at the TV room and my child was in the next room. When the alarm was activated, I instinctively went into her room, although it is not fortified. The rocket landed just as I reached her. I was lucky because the TV room was filled with shrapnel and the window was torn out."
Eshkol Regional Council head Haim Yalin expressed anger over the bureaucratic impediments that were delaying the installation of fortified rooms in the community: "The government decision to install safe rooms was made back in January, but we are already at the end of March – and the bureaucracy is not letting us begin construction," he said.
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