Woman killed in Sderot rocket attack Roi Mandel Latest Update: 05.22.07, 01:51Israel News |
Five rockets were fired at the southern town at around 8 pm.Two landed south of Ashkelon, one landed in Sderot and two in the western Negev.
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An hour and a half later, three additional rockets were fired from Gaza, landing near one of the kibbutzim in the western Negev. Two more rockets were fired at around 10:30 pm. There were no reports of injuries.
The woman killed in the attack suffered from injuries to her limbs and stomach. She was evacuated by a Magen David Adom crew to the Barzilay Medical Center in Ashkelon, where she died from her wounds.
Another man injured by shrapnel was also evacuated to hospital. Twelve people were treated for shock.
The rocket landed very close to the commercial center. Most business owners had closed their shops for a meeting on the situation.
Car hit near commercial center (Photo: AFP)
The Salah al-Din Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees' military wing, claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. About 17 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip since Monday morning.
Sderot residents said that the rocket alert system was not activated before the rockets landed in the city.
Tova Malka, the secretary of Mayor Eli Moyal, was at the landing site. "I left work and arrived at the center in order to drop off a good friend. He just got off and I continued driving, when I suddenly heard an explosion. My head flew forward and I hit it," she said.
Residents gather at landing site (Photo: AFP)
Another resident, Moshe Shaubi, said, "I passed by to buy shoes. I saw my nephew exactly at the place where the rocket later fell. I shouted at him, 'Are you crazy? Don't hang around here.' Suddenly I heard an explosion. The rocket hit exactly when a woman passed by the car which was directly hit. I saw her and she was severely hurt in her legs."
Residents riot following attack
Dozens of Sderot residents demonstrated in the center of the city following the fatal rocket attack. The protestors clashed with police as the convoy of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana passed by.
During the clashes, the protestors hurled stones at the municipality building. Dozens of youths tried to break into the building, and when they realized the door was locked, they smashed a large vase on it. A number of workers were trapped in the building.
Sderot residents clash with police (Photo: AFP)
Yosef Timsit, whose wife Colette was seriously injured in a rocket attack last week, fainted during the demonstration.
"I came to Sderot from the hospital. I heard on the news that a woman was killed. I have never taken part in demonstrations, but I am in pain and it's my right to protest. I have nothing, I have no home, I have been sleeping in my car for a week.
"When one of the policemen kicked my son I felt pain in my chest and fainted. I admit, I wanted to hit the policeman so that he would arrest me, so that I could have a place to sleep tonight. I prefer to sleep in a detention cell and not in a car.
"I'm asking Arcadi Gaydamak to adopt my injured son and take care of him," he added.
The demonstrators chanted "death to the Arabs" and held signs calling for a "second Operation Defensive shield.
Another resident, Netanel Sarusi, said, "We don't want to be next. We have had enough. I have a 3-month-old daughter. We demand a Operation Defensive Shield in Gaza like the one they had in the West Bank."
On Monday afternoon, Palestinians fired three Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel. There were no reports of injuries.
One of the rockets landed near a gas station in the area, one hit a hothouse in a local community, starting a fire, and the third rocket landed in a kibbutz south of Sderot.
The Color Red alert system was activated in Sderot as students were taking their matriculation exam in English. Terrified parents called the schools in fear that a rocket may have hit an education institution.
On Monday morning, three rockets were fired towards Israel. Two rockets landed near a kibbutz in the western Negev and the third exploded south of Ashkelon
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Gaydamak to build tent city for Sderot refugees Billionaire businessman Arcady Gaydamak aims to build refugee compound in Tel Aviv, after municipality nixed plan for tent city in central Jerusalem Ynet reporters One of the enduring symbols of the Second Lebanon War for many Israelis is the so-called 'tent city' built by businessman Arcady Gaydamak as a refugee camp for residents of the country's battered north.
Now Gaydamak is seeking to build a similar compound for Sderot families as Gaza terror groups increase their attacks on the city, killing a 32-year-old woman on Monday.
After the local municipality refused to authorize the set-up of a tent city in Jerusalem for Sderot evacuees, the billionaire decided to move his efforts north. He intends to create his 3,000-person tent city in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park.
Gaydamak's staff members told Ynet that "although the Jerusalem municipality refused to accept Sderot residents, the evacuation plan will continue. (Tuesday night), we will begin building the tent city in Tel Aviv."
The Tel Aviv municipality said that a tent city would be approved only for 1,000 residents and was awaiting final approval from local police. Police forces, on their part, stated that they were unaware of a plan for a tent city in Tel Aviv.
Sources from Gaydamak's office stated that the section of Yarkon Park where they are interested in locating the tent city is privately owned and thus, they do not need authorization from anyone but the owners.
They hope to begin moving in Sderot residents to their temporary lodgings as early as Thursday.
The Sderot municipality, along with Gaydamak employees, will immediately begin logging residents interested in leaving the rocket-plagued city.
It appears that the Prime Minister's Office was involved in the road blocks to Gaydamak's tent city both in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Sources from the office said the government objected to such a plan because it "is well-equipped to deal with the growing need of residents to take a break (from the rocket threat).
"The Defense Ministry is able, at this time, to provide such solutions in an appropriate manner and degree," they said.
Snags in Jerusalem plan
Gaydamak originally wanted the tent city constructed in Jerusalem's Saker Garden and although municipal authorities and the Jerusalem police hadn't approved the elaborate plan yet Gaydamak's trucks arrived at Saker on Tuesday morning and prepared to unload.
Police quickly moved in to block the construction workers and municipal officials announced the city would not allow Gaydamak to use Saker Park because it lacked the necessary facilities required to accommodate so many people and because a nearby highway may endanger those staying in the park.
Instead the city offered Gaydamak the Tzipori vacation resort located just outside Jerusalem. The resort already has buildings suitable for housing, showers, toilets and a swimming pool and has already taken in refugees during the Second Lebanon War.
 Gaydamak's trucks in Jerusalem on Tuesday (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
The municipality expressed disappointment Tuesday afternoon that Gaydamak did not agree to house residents in the resort.
"Gaydamak is trying to turn Sderot residents into beggars in the center of town, instead of offering them humane conditions of living as the municipality wants to give them," they said of his plan to build a tent city.
City officials said that if the wellbeing of Sderot's residents were truly Gaydamak's top priority he would accept their offer to house his project in Tzipori.
But Gaydamak's men said they received permission to begin construction on Monday night and therefore arrived at the site Tuesday morning with eight trucks laden with equipment. Only afterwards, they said, did they receive word that the city would not allow them to use the park.
The blame, the officials said, rests with Ra'anan Dinur, director-general of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office, who stepped in and changed the city's decision. The Jerusalem municipality adamantly denied the claim and said it had never authorized the construction of the tent city in Saker Park.
Gaydamak's office said that at present time the trucks continue to stand near Saker, where they will remain until a suitable solution is found, even if that should only happen after the Shavuot holiday.
"We don't want to set up anywhere else. We want to bring 3,000 people here and any other place can't hold more than 500," said a spokesman for Gaydamak.
The compound would consist of either large tents or prefabricated buildings housing dining halls, facilities, cinemas and more.
If he builds it… will they come?
But municipal bureaucracy aside, the biggest challenge Gaydamak may face in realizing his plan may come from Sderot's residents themselves, who despite the promised luxuries have so far refused to leave their city in the droves seen during the Second Lebanon War. Other than those who left to stay with relatives or in hotels out of Gaza's rocket range, most have opted to stay.
The Saker Garden, situated in the heart of Jerusalem, was chosen for several reasons but chiefly because of its proximity to the Knesset building. The venue would allow the tent city to become a protest arena against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government.
The decision to haul Sderot's resident to the capital may also stem from Gaydamak's efforts to tie himself to Jerusalem. Officials have hinted in the past that Gaydamak may one day even decide to run for mayor.
Gaydamak himself has stated in the past that he sees his future as linked with the city.
Officials within Gaydamak's office said that he initially tried to secure a military base to house the refugees, with his funding, but the Defense Ministry refused and so the tent city plan was conceived.
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