Rockets Bombard Israeli City
By Tzippe Barrow
CBN News - Jerusalem Bureau
May 16, 2007
CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - Twenty Kassam rockets rained down on residents of Sderot in the western Negev Tuesday night, damaging property and sending 18 people to the hospital, including children wounded by shrapnel. One woman sustained serious head injuries.
By Wednesday afternoon, nearly 30 rockets had fallen in Sderot.
Children and adults traumatized by the hail of rockets exploding all around them were treated for shock.
Dr. Rosa Schneider, a trauma specialist at the Barzilai Hospital in the coastal city of Ashkelon, treated some of them.
"We had 14 victims who suffered from shock," said Dr. Schneider, "and I heard hair-raising stories," she said. "I can't remember an event with so many victims."
Wednesday morning, a rocket scored another direct hit on a home in the embattled city, while two others landed just outside city limits and another four Kassams exploded south of Ashkelon.
Responding to a letter from traumatized residents asking to be removed from harm's way, Israeli billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak sent eight buses on Wednesday to transport people to hotels in Beer Sheva and Ashdod.
Gaydamak also said he would help fund costs to strengthen buildings against rocket attacks.
"We are negotiating with a big construction company, which already offered the government a project for fortifying homes in Sderot several months ago, but it wasn't carried out," said Gaydamak.
Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a helicopter strike on Hamas headquarters near Rafah along the border with Egypt, killing six Hamas operatives and wounding 10 others.
This is the IDF's first attack since the November 2006 cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened a security meeting Wednesday afternoon to decide how to respond to the latest bombardment.
Some political analysts believe Hamas is trying to force Israel into a confrontation in Gaza. In recent weeks, Hamas officials have bragged to the media about their improved ability to handle an IDF offensive in Gaza, both on the ground and in the air.
Since the government's August 2005 pullout from Gaza, huge amounts of munitions, explosives, rockets, etc., have been smuggled into Gaza from Egypt.
Hamas has been building tunnels and bunkers, sending hundreds of its members to Iran to for training, all in preparation for war with Israel. Emboldened by last summer's war between Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon, Hamas believes they too are prepared to do battle.
Source: YNet news service
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