Gaza-area schools' safety questioned

Kassams cause extensive damage to home; woman suffers light wounds.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
kassam bed damage 298 c2 (photo credit: Channel 2)
kassam bed damage 298 c2
(photo credit: Channel 2)
Defense Ministry Director General Ya'acov Toren debated with security officials on Tuesday concerning further securing schools in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip. During the discussions, it was agreed that those responsible for the schools' security in the Home Front Command would convene with the relevant bodies in the Education Ministry in order to create an extensive program to ensure the safety of the education institutions in the neighborhoods near Gaza. The existing program for the schools' defenses only includes nurseries and with the new expected contribution from the Education Ministry the new budget is expected to go up to NIS 122 million. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that if the Kassams don't stop, Israel's response will be "tough and painful." Peretz made the comments in response to the four rockets that were fired at Sderot earlier Tuesday morning. "We will seek out people who fire Kassams in every corner," he vowed. One woman was lightly wounded by shrapnel and several other people were suffering from shock after two Kassams fell in Sderot's city center next to the Shikmim school. The woman was evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon for treatment. Another rocket landed inside a home, striking the bed of a 17-year-old boy who had left for school a few minutes earlier. The building sustained extensive damage. A total of six Kassams were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Two landed in open territory in Sderot. One landed in an IDF base in the south, and another landed in a kibbutz. No one was wounded and no damage was reported in the two latter incidents. Also Tuesday, two mortar shells fell near the Gaza security fence. No one was wounded and no damage caused. IDF artillery was shelling Kassam launch sites in the Gaza Strip in response to the morning's barrage. Tuesday's attack on Sderot marked the second direct hit on one of the city's homes in less than a week. Last Wednesday, two people suffered from shock after apartment building - not far from Defense Minister Amir Peretz's home - was struck by a rocket.