by Turgut Alp Boyraz
JERUSALEM
While nobody has been killed in the southern Israeli city of Sderot in three days of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, city residents continue to live in horror.
Factory owner, Kagon Darogh, had just started to show a group of journalists damage made in his factory by a recent rocket attack when two more missiles appeared in the sky.
Emergency sirens rang immediately.
Israel's Iron Dome defense system was quick to intercept the missiles and keep them away from the area. Fear continued, however, to make itself strongly felt among the residents of the whole place.
“It's not possible to make peace with Hamas," Darogh said. "I am not, however, planning to move my factory to a safer place,” he added.
A few meters away from the Gaza Strip, which is being pounded by Israel's air force and navy, residents in Sderot live in fear.
Rocket attacks from the neighboring Gaza Strip are leaving their mark on the residents of the city, even as few of these rockets touch down and cause any Israeli casualties.
“Just imagine that you have to protect your life every single day when you wake up in the morning,” Sderot Mayer, Alon Davidi, told Anadolu Agency.
"No Israeli civilian casualties have been reported in Sederot thus far as a result of recent Gaza rocket fire, but my children still continue to be afraid of rockets," he added.
A few meters away, Israeli strikes have claimed the lives of 91 Palestinians so far and caused injuries to hundreds of others.
Attacks by Israeli warplanes and navy also destroyed scores of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip amid reports that Israel may start a ground operation against the Palestinian coastal enclave soon.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas described the war between Israel and Gaza as one between two unequal parties.
A group of journalists paid a visit to Sderot on Thursday upon invitation from the Israeli government's press office.
City mayor, Davidi, blamed the residents of Gaza for the current crisis because they voted for Hamas.
“The only way to achieve peace is getting rid of Hamas,” he said.
Sderot, which has a total population of 25, 000, has a shelter that can accommodate 500 people. The shelter is designed as a playground for children.
The government has earmarked $150 million to build shelters in the city.
“When alarm sirens ring, the children come here to play games, watch television, and stop worrying about rockets,” Yedidya Harush, an official from Israeli NGO Jewish National Fund, said.
Israel dubbed its ongoing operation on Gaza "Operation Protective Edge". It says the operation aims to end rocket fire from the strip.
The Gaza-based resistance movement Hamas, meanwhile, says it is ready for months of fighting against Israel. Stuck in the middle, however, are ordinary Palestinians.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Thursday that out of 91 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, ten only were militants.
www.aa.com.tr/en
