One rocket landed in the home of a Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Hananel and Tzivia Pizam, for the third time.
By Rachel Avraham
More than 450 days into Operation Iron Swords, Hamas terrorists in Gaza continue to fire rockets at the State of Israel. Three rockets were fired at Israel today, with the red rocket alert sirens sounded in Sderot, Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Nir Am.
One rocket landed in the home of a Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Hananel and Tzivia Pizam, for the third time. “It is terrible — not the first time, not the second,” Tzviah Pizam told Ynet. “We thought that it was over, and it hit the gas canister.” They noted that they still had not fixed all of the damage done to their home by previous Hamas rockets.
The Times of Israel reported that the rocket broke a fence and damaged a walkway, while sending debris flying. According to the report, shrapnel also hit a gas tank, causing a temporary leak but no explosion. Pinhas Cohen, who has an office in the street where the rocket landed, told the Kan public broadcaster that “we flew out of our seats from the shockwave; it was an especially large explosion.”
Following this rocket attack, the Jerusalem Post reported that paramedics transferred to the hospital a woman in her 60s who had sustained light wounds after being injured while running to a bomb shelter. Israel Hayom reported that she was transferred to Barzilai Hospital, where she is now in stable condition. In an area where one only has 20 seconds to run to a bomb shelter, it is quite common to sustain injuries while rushing to a bomb shelter due to the panic involved in red alert sirens.
Another rocket landed in an open area, causing minor damage. A third rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome. Since the October 7 massacre, over 31,717 rockets and 6,794 UAVs have been fired at the State of Israel. Last December, there were a total of 1,608 rocket alerts in Israel: 8 (0.5%) of which were triggered by Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon, 124 (7%) by rockets launched by Hamas from Gaza and 1,466 (92%) by ballistic missiles & UAVs launched by the Houthis in Yemen.
Sderot has been a frequent target for Hamas terror attacks. On October 7, Hamas terrorists invaded the city, overrunning the local police station. A battle took place between the IDF and the Hamas terrorists, which left the Sderot Police Station in ruins. For 36 hours, the residents of Sderot were trapped in bomb shelters on October 7, while Hamas terrorists fired 3,000 rockets at Israel and invaded the city, murdering, raping, looting, and kidnapping whoever they could find. Today, there are plans to build a memorial on the plot of land that once housed the Sderot Police Station. At the site, there is now a mural depicting the October 7 massacre made by the Israeli artist Arav Levy.
Although the city has since been liberated from the tyrannous yoke of Hamas terrorists, the city of Sderot still lives under the constant threat of terror to the point that even the local playgrounds are built around bomb shelters. A gigantic Sderot menorah made out of leftover Qassam rockets is displayed in front of the Sderot Chabad House, highlighting just how much the constant threat of Qassam rockets has influenced the city.
The Sderot Resilience Center claims that ninety percent of Sderot residents have experienced symptoms of PTSD, including seventy percent of the city’s children. Sderot is located just one kilometer from the Gaza Strip and has been under rocket fire for the past 23 years. The local Sderot police station, which was destroyed on October 7, used to house a museum displaying all of the leftover rockets that were fired at the city. Sadly, now that museum does not even exist anymore. It was another causality of the October 7 massacre.
However, Hamas continues to fire rockets at Sderot, despite the heavy losses that they endured during the war. Local mother of five, Hodaya, initiated an emergency campaign through parent groups to suspend school activities indefinitely. “This reality is becoming intolerable,” she told Israel Hayom, describing the situation as incomprehensible and vowing to lead efforts to halt educational activities until security conditions improve.
