Rockets Rain Down on Sderot
Tzippe Barrow
CBN News
November 20, 2006
CBNNews. com – SDEROT, Israel – The residents of the Israeli city of Sderot in the western Negev are all too familiar with the sound of incoming Kassam rockets, launched from the Gaza Strip.
Last night, two rockets landed in an open area in the city, and this morning, residents awoke to the sound of five Kassams whistling overhead.
This time, no one was killed or injured by any of the rockets, and no property was damaged.
At yesterday morning’s Cabinet meeting, Minister of Internal Security Avi Dichter reiterated his call for a stepped-up military campaign in Gaza. Dichter left his position last year, as head of Shin Bet , one of three organizations comprising Israel’s intelligence services.
“It’s time to tell ourselves the truth,” Dichter told Ynetnews.com, repeating his remarks from the Cabinet meeting. “We need to stop the Kassams today because I don’t suggest waiting for a time when the Palestinians have better rockets,” he said.
Over the past several years, Palestinian terrorists have honed their skills, filling today’s Kassams with increasing amounts of explosives and shrapnel.
Last week in Sderot, a 57-year-old woman was killed just after crossing a city street, and a 24-year-old body guard of Defense Minister Amir Peretz lost both his legs in a rocket attack. The rocket exploded 150 yards from the defense minister’s Sderot residence.
Six years ago when the first Kassam fell in Sderot, Palestinians blamed Israel’s “occupation” of Gaza, referring to the 21 thriving Jewish communities in the Gush Etzion Settlement Bloc.
But since the August 2005 pullout and razing of these communities, more than 1,800 rockets have landed on southern Israeli cities from Sderot to Ashkelon, many fired from where the former Israeli towns stood.
“Cycle of violence” has become the catch phrase in world media reports, inferring that rocket attacks are a legitimate response to Israel’s efforts to root out the terrorist infrastructure.
“If we change our approach,” said Dichter, “it will bring about a regional change,” adding that Israel can’t allow itself to be drug into a war of attrition waged by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations vis-à-vis Kassam rocket attacks.
