After a week of relative quiet, residents of Sderot and environs were
wakened by the frightening Color Red rocket warning alert. Three rockets
sent several people into shock and caused major damage.
The past week was the quietest one of the past month, in which
terrorists from Gaza fired only about five Kassams into Israel. No one
was hurt, and no damage was caused. This morning, however, at
approximately 8:30, three rockets came careening into Israel - one of
them smashing into a residential neighborhood in Sderot.

With memories of last Friday's ten rockets still fresh in their minds,
residents slowly emerged from their homes - many of which do not have a
rocket-proof room - to inspect the damage. They found several people
suffering from shock, and tremendous damage to some homes.

One woman fainted when the outside wall of her home was directly hit.
Her husband, who rushed home when he heard where the rocket fell,
evacuated her to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades took immediate credit for the attack.
The terror organization said it had fired the Quds-3 rocket in
retaliation for Israel's military action in Ramallah of Thursday night.
The Quds-3 rocket is a relatively new Gaza-developed weapon, based on
the Russian Grad and a Katyusha. It weighs 66 kilograms and carries 17
kilograms of explosives, is often fired in clusters, and has a range
much longer than a normal Kassam.

Close to 80 Kassams have been fired at Israel since a ceasefire between
the Gaza terrorists and Israel went into effect six weeks ago.

Eleven people have been killed in Kassam attacks. These include three
toddlers aged 4 and under, a teenager returning from leading a youth
group, and three foreign workers. In addition, two Bedouin were killed
when an unexploded rocket in a field blew up at their touch.