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Shock victim being evacuated
Photo: Zeev Trachtman

Girl moderately injured in rocket attack

Two hours after IAF warplanes attack Hamas police post in Khan Younis, killing seven, Palestinians fire 10 Qassam rockets at Sderot. Teenager moderately hurt, three people lightly hurt; electricity to parts of town cut off. Hamas' military wing claims responsibility

A 14-year-old girl was moderately wounded by flying shrapnel when a Qassam rocket fired from northern Gaza on Tuesday evening struck a house in Sderot.

 

Three residents were lightly injured as a result of smoke inhalation and several others suffered shock.

 

The attack caused damage to the house the girl was in when the attack occurred. In addition, the power was cut for an hour to a number of areas in the rocket-battered town apparently as a result of the rocket barrage.

 

At least 12 rockets landed in the Sderot area Tuesday evening in four separate barrages. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

 

At around 5:30 pm, the Color Red warning siren went off as the Qassams began to make their way into Israel form Gaza.

 

The latest barrage was fired at around 10 pm. Two more rockets landed in Sderot, one falling near a school.


A street where one rocket landed (Photo: Zeev Trachtman)

 

Hanny Moreno, the girl injured by the Qassan, told Ynet that she was in the house with her grandmother and mother when the rocket hit it.

 

"We heard the Color Red alert system. We ran to where my grandmother said was the most protected place, as there is no protection in the house. When the alert ended we came out and then there was an explosion. I flew against the wall and felt the roof collapsing over me.

 

"If I was a few meters away from the place where I was standing, I would have sustained more serious wounds. I thank God I was saved.

 

"Half a year ago, as I was making my way to this house, a Qassam rocket landed right next to me. A miracle saved me then too, because I managed to run and find shelter in time," she recounted.

 

Moshe Yifrach, whose wife's parents leave in the house hit by the rocket, told Ynet, "I still can't believe that people came out of this house alive. What happened here was simply a miracle.

 

"This house is full of people every day. My wife is usually here at these hours. Today, by chance, only my mother-in-law was here with her daughter and 14-year-old granddaughter.

 

"They don’t have a protected space and the entire house was simply destroyed. The granddaughter was hurt by shrapnel, and my mother-in-law and her daughter were lightly injured."

 

'It takes more than a Qassam to take me out'

Yifrach added that the house was heavily damaged. "I look at the house and cannot believe it. The house is simply about to collapse any minute now. Firefighters warned us not to approach the house.

 

"Unfortunately, we live here like dogs. No one cares about us anymore. We are out of words. I myself am afraid to say very harsh things about this government, which is simply ignoring us," he said.

 

MK Effie Eitam (National Union-National Religious Party) was on the outskirts of Sderot when the rockets began pouring in. He told Ynet that "a Qassam fell on the road about 30 meters (98 feet) from me. That's not a good feeling. We weren't injured -- thank God we’re OK. It takes more than a Qassam to take me out."

 

The rockets were launched two hours after an IAF strike on Hamas police outpost in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources reported that seven policemen who were in the building at the time of the raid were killed and that wide scale damage was caused to the structure.

 

On Tuesday morning, many resident of the western Negev arose to the sound of Qassam rockets making impact. Several Sderot residents suffered shock after two of the projectiles landed in an industrial area in the town. Two factories were damaged in the attack.

 

One of the rockets hit a warehouse of a factory that manufactures kitchen appliances and caused some damage to the structure as well as its contents.

 

The second rocket hit a parking lot of a nearby factory and caused marginal damage.

 

A number of people suffered shock at the site of the attack. A worker at one of the factories tried to seek refuge during the attack and injured her head in the process.

 

Ali Waked and Amnon Meranda contributed to this report

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.05.08, 17:55
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