Vishnu
Elite Member
- Messages
- 257
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- 22
It was a feeling of utter shock," says the headmaster of Yeshiva Tehnit school, referring to the Palestinian rocket that first punched through the ceiling and then an adjacent wall.
"If the rocket had been fired five minutes later this classroom would have been full of students."
It is the town of Sderot that has borne the brunt of Qassam rocket attacks fired from Gaza by Palestinian militant groups.
Last weekend, this small Israeli town close to the Gaza border was pounded by more than 50 Qassams - a crude home-made rocket - severely injuring a 61-year-old school caretaker.
The step-up in attacks came after the militant group Hamas broke its 16-month ceasefire after accusing Israeli forces of firing a shell onto a beach that killed eight Palestinian civilians.
Protesting residents are demanding more is done to stop the attacks
But in the last few months the rockets have been falling in greater numbers.
According to the mayor of Sderot, Eli Moyal, an average of 80 rockets a month have landed in the town's municipal borders since September.
"If the residents don't really need to do something then they are not out on the streets," he says, referring to those who prefer to stay at home rather than risk being caught up in an attack.
Mr Moyal believes that the rocket attacks are not going to end any time soon - "not even after five years", he says - but that the people of Sderot will stay in their homes and "not let the terror win".
"All I want to do is live in peace and quiet"
-Hava Gad
Sderot Resident
BBC News
"If the rocket had been fired five minutes later this classroom would have been full of students."
It is the town of Sderot that has borne the brunt of Qassam rocket attacks fired from Gaza by Palestinian militant groups.
Last weekend, this small Israeli town close to the Gaza border was pounded by more than 50 Qassams - a crude home-made rocket - severely injuring a 61-year-old school caretaker.
The step-up in attacks came after the militant group Hamas broke its 16-month ceasefire after accusing Israeli forces of firing a shell onto a beach that killed eight Palestinian civilians.
Protesting residents are demanding more is done to stop the attacks
But in the last few months the rockets have been falling in greater numbers.
According to the mayor of Sderot, Eli Moyal, an average of 80 rockets a month have landed in the town's municipal borders since September.
"If the residents don't really need to do something then they are not out on the streets," he says, referring to those who prefer to stay at home rather than risk being caught up in an attack.
Mr Moyal believes that the rocket attacks are not going to end any time soon - "not even after five years", he says - but that the people of Sderot will stay in their homes and "not let the terror win".
"All I want to do is live in peace and quiet"
-Hava Gad
Sderot Resident
BBC News