CBNNews.com - A Kassam rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip severed the leg of an eight-year-old boy in Sderot, wounded his 19-year-old brother and sent several others into shock.

The injured brothers, Osher, 8, and Rami Tuito, 19, were transported to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, where doctors amputated part of Osher's left leg and worked to save his injured right leg.

"When Osher arrived here [at the hospital], his leg was completely crushed," hospital director Dr. Emil Chai told YNet news service. "It was clear we would probably have to amputate it," he said.

"He underwent surgery during the night, and we are trying to keep the second leg, but it is also in bad condition," he said.

"Apart from that, he has a hole in his chest and his lungs are injured. We still fear infection," he said, adding that the hospital staff is monitoring his condition very closely.

"His brother Rami was also operated on tonight. Both his legs are plastered now, and we presume he'll be transferred to the orthopedic ward in the coming hours," he said.

The boys' father, Rafi, was brokenhearted.

"This is a child who should be playing soccer and riding his bike," his father told YNet. "How can such a child live with an amputated leg, with his entire life ahead of him?

"Our house is not fortified," he said. "I have a married daughter living outside Sderot, and she is afraid to visit me with her baby. I tell her, 'You're right. Don't come here. It's dangerous,'" he said.

The al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, broadcast their "success" from the mosques in Gaza, while gunmen celebrated by firing their rifles in the air.

Sources: YNet news service, israel national news