Familiar Sirens Return to Sderot and Ashkelon

Haaretz
November 6, 2008

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/369/familiar-sirens-return-to-sderot-and-ashkelon

Israelis living near the Gazan border awoke yesterday to the sound of explosions and air raid sirens as Qassam rockets and mortar shells slammed into their communities.

Of 35 Qassams and mortars fired from the Gaza Strip nine landed in Israeli territory, including two in Ashkelon and one in a kibbutz in the western Negev. The others landed in open areas. One rocket landed near the home of Shaar Hanegev Regional Council head Alon Schuster.

Members of the kibbutz, which was not named, are accustomed to rockets falling near their homes. They did not remain indoors and sent their children to daycare and kindergarten as usual. "These facilities are safer because they're fortified, while the houses are not," one kindergarten teacher said. The kibbutz community manager made the rounds of the institutions, advising staff to keep the children inside during the day.

In Ashkelon, one Qassam exploded in a park, causing alarm. "This country isn't giving us security," one resident said.

"Every Qassam rocket that falls in the city scares tens of thousands of people. The defense minister isn't providing us with security and maybe he should resign, like the prime minister."

The rocket landed about 250 meters from the Neot Ashkelon elementary school. The school's 700 pupils were preparing for an air raid drill when the siren sounded, turning the drill into reality. A number of children who were frightened by the siren were collected shortly afterward by their parents.

"My son called, terribly scared, and asked me to come and take him home," one mother said.

"We laid on the floor and covered our heads with our hands," one child related. "We were very scared and everyone asked for my phone to call their mothers to take them from school," he said.

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