Kassam rocket lands in Sderot factory

Jerusalem Post, May 17, 2007

A Kassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a factory in Sderot on Thursday evening.

The factory burst into flames and firefighters worked frantically to extinguish the blaze.

No casualties were reported.

(An man is seen through the shattered glass of a car that was hit by a rocket in Sderot Thursday

Photo: AP)

Elsewhere, Kassam rockets landed in two western Negev Kibbutzim and south of Ashkelon.

In one of the kibbutzim a rocket landed on a petting zoo, injuring farmyard animals and causing damage.

Another rocket landed in an open area outside Sderot. No one was wounded and no damage was reported.

(A teacher comforts a student after a rocket hit their school in Sderot.
Photo: AP)

By 7 p.m., 16 Kassam hits had been reported in Sderot and the western Negev. Magen David Adom paramedics were treating a mother and her nine-year-old daughter, both of whom were suffering from shock. A car was also damaged.

Another rocket hit a high school near Sapir College earlier in the day, causing significant damage and lightly wounding two pupils.

A moshav in the Eshkol Regional Council also suffered a Kassam hit. One of its greenhouses was reportedly damaged, but no one was wounded.

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Meanwhile, dozens of Sderot residents barged into Mayor Eli Moyal's office, demanding his help in evacuating the city.

Israel Radio reported that more than 1,000 people had fled Sderot. Among the evacuees were 90 families with at least one member considered mentally disabled.

The angry Sderot residents stormed into the mayor's office after hearing that the Defense Ministry had ordered a halt to the evacuation of families from Sderot.

Also Thursday, a survey inspecting the shelters in the western Negev town showed that eighty bomb shelters in Sderot were unfit for use.

(May 16, 2007

18 wounded as 20 rockets hit Sderot. A young girl from Sderot reacts after her house was hit by a Kassam rocket fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip Tuesday.

Photo: AP )

Israel Radio reported that due to a shortage of funds to renovate the shelters, they were being used to store scrap metal.

Only 36 Sderot shelters are in active use, although they too are in need of extensive repair work, it emerged from the survey.

On Wednesday night, a Kassam rocket reportedly hit a four-story apartment building in the city. Several people were reportedly suffering from shock as a result, while another rocket hit a transformer, knocking out electricity in parts of the city.

Earlier Wednesday, the Sderot Municipality prepared to temporarily evacuate 4,000 residents after Palestinians fired approximately 50 rockets into the area around the Gaza border within 24 hours.

A 70-year-old woman sustained serious shrapnel wounds when a Kassam rocket hit her Sderot home, and was evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. A man was lightly wounded in the attack, and four others were treated for shock, bringing the total number of shock victims for the day to 18.

Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.