Iron Dome silent as Grads hit Beersheba, Netivot

Gaza terrorists launch 2 Grad rockets into southern Israel; 3 civilians suffer light injuries, 4 treated for shock.

By BEN HARTMAN
Netivot home damaged by Gazan Grad rocket 370 (photo credit: Courtesy IDF)
Netivot home damaged by Gazan Grad rocket 370
(photo credit: Courtesy IDF)
Gaza rocket crews fired Grad rockets into Israel overnight Saturday, seriously damaging two local houses in Netivot and leaving seven civilians lightly injured.
One of the rockets was fired at Beersheba and landed in the city without causing any damage.
That strike was followed by a Grad hit on Netivot, which caused heavy damage to two houses.
Shortly after the rocket strike the local authorities in Beersheba and Ashdod canceled school for Sunday. On Sunday night, they announced that classes would resume as normal on Monday.
Neither the rocket fired at Beersheba nor the one that hit Netivot were targeted by the vaunted Iron Dome missile defense system.
When asked about complaints by local residents that Netivot, a regular target of Gaza rocket crews, is not covered by the Iron Dome system, the IDF said that “the Iron Dome is a tactical, portable system that can give an answer only in specific areas, and the decision on which answer is made by situational assessments, in light of the changing reality.”
Netivot City Hall spokesman Benny Cohen said Sunday’s rocket strike was not that unusual for the city, where such attacks “happen from time to time. That’s the problem; it’s become part of the atmosphere of the city.”
Cohen said the majority of city residents have safe rooms inside their homes or access to a nearby public shelter. In addition, in recent years, private donors have contributed a large number of portable concrete pillboxes, which are placed throughout residential areas of the city to provide shelter when the “Code Red” alarm goes off.