ISRAEL: Israeli residents of Gaza border town express fear and rage, and also a wish for peace amidst Palestinian rocket attacks

Record ID: 398443

  • Title: ISRAEL: Israeli residents of Gaza border town express fear and rage, and also a wish for peace amidst Palestinian rocket attacks
  • Date: 14th June 2006
  • Summary: (BN01) SDEROT, ISRAEL (JUNE 12, 2006) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) ISRAELIS SITTING AT LOCAL PUB WORLD CUP BEING SCREENED IN PUB PEOPLE WATCHING GAME
  • Embargoed: 29th June 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAC6TQF5VJCHNYD4DVPPL4Q4OSI
  • Story Text: Watching a televised broadcast of the World Cup games, offered to residents of the Israeli border town of Sderot for free, is often interrupted by the sound of the roaming sirens alerting them from an imminent rocket attack from neighbouring Gaza.
    Located several kilometres away from the Gaza Strip, the town of Sderot has long been a frequent target of rockets and mortars attacks.
    Since the ruling Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas called off a 16-month truce with the Jewish state on Friday (June 9), the town has been attacked by Qassam rockets.
    In an effort to ease on the lives of the near-Gaza residents, Israel's Bank Leumi has decided to fund the broadcast of the international soccer tournament to Israeli communities who are subjected to rocket attacks.
    But residents could not enjoy the sports relief, as sirens blast across town each time the security system recognises launching of rocket from Gaza.
    "It has become a routine. The Qassams, everyday they hit us, it is scary to live like that," said a young resident of the southern town, shortly before the early warning system 'Red Dawn' went on, sending residents to take cover in bomb shelters.
    Casualties in Israel from Palestinian rockets are far less than those from Israeli strikes in Gaza. The last time an Israeli was killed by a rocket strike was last July. But that is little solace to Sderot's 20,000 residents.
    Fifteen residents have launched a hunger strike, pressing tougher response against Palestinian rocket launchers.
    They said they wanted the government to either use enough force against the Palestinians to stop the rockets or pay them the compensation given to Gaza settlers so they could leave.
    The strikers set up a protest tent outside the house of Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz, who happens to be a resident of the town.
    On Sunday (June 11) Peretz cautioned that Israel would make "painful" responses unless the rocket fire stopped.
    Another ongoing strike has been carried out by parents who have pulled their children from schools after a homemade rocket seriously wounded a maintenance worker there on Sunday (June 11).
    Teachers have been asked by municipality authorities to come to school in case children would show up, but most schools remained empty on the third day of the strike.
    Some residents complained that the government is neglecting them and do not provide them with the necessary defensive measures.
    "They don't give us what any other civilian in our country deserves. No security, no education, no protection, nothing," said Sasson Sara, a grocer.
    Sderot mayor Eli Moyal demanded tougher military action, even if it meant turning nearby areas of Gaza, from where militants fire rockets, into ghost towns.
    "We should react roughly," Moyal told Reuters at his office after talks with government officials who promised more money to build protective shelters.
    Moyal's tough words reflect growing frustration in Sderot and across Israel that a pullout of Jewish settlers and soldiers from Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation did not bring a respite from rocket attacks.
    Dozens of residents took to the streets on Tuesday (June 13), carrying mock rockets and calling on the security authorities to act against the Palestinian rocket launchers. 'Fire back at Beit Hanoun', chanted the protesters, referring to the northern Gaza town which is used by Palestinian militants as a rocket launchpad.
    Militants have fired more than 100 rockets into Israel since the Gaza beach explosion, the army said. Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza last year and has said it will not tolerate cross-border rocket attacks.
    On Tuesday (June 13) Israel killed 11 Palestinians, nine of them civilians, in a missile strike on a van carrying militants and rockets in Gaza, the deadliest such attack in nearly four years.
    Israel said it targeted the Gaza van because it was carrying powerful armaments that could have been used against it.
    Hospital officials said nine civilians, including two children and two medics, were killed as well as two Islamic Jihad militants. About 30 people were wounded.
    Rockets could be clearly seen in the wreckage of a yellow van. The Israeli army said the projectiles could hit targets up to 20 km (12 miles) away, a range far greater than that of the crude Qassam rockets usually fired by militants from Gaza.
    The air strike signalled that Israel would not flinch from targeting rocket squads in densely populated areas in spite of an outcry over the deaths of seven Palestinians, including three children, on a Gaza beach on Friday.
    Militants blamed the blast on Israeli shellfire. Shortly after the incident Hamas declared the truce dead.
    An investigation by the Israeli army indicated it was not responsible for the blast, and that the explosion was likely caused by a landmine planted by a Palestinian militant group and not the result of Israeli fire.
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