Rocket barrage on western Negev continues

7 treated for shock; rocket fire notably decreasing with at least 23 rockets fired throughout the day.

Grad hit car beersheba 248.88.ap (photo credit: AP)
Grad hit car beersheba 248.88.ap
(photo credit: AP)
A man and two teenagers narrowly escaped serious injury when a Grad rocket struck their Ashkelon home on Monday. Itzik Ben-Dayan, 27, his younger sister, 12, and cousin, 11, entered the designated safe room in their home upon hearing an air raid siren during the late morning hours. After hearing a distant thud, the three thought the attack was over and were about to exit the safe room when "the house exploded," Ben-Dayan told The Jerusalem Post. "Everything inside is destroyed. We're all in shock," said Ben Dayan, who suffered from chest pains. Edward Arbilani, a neighbor, was one of the first people on the scene after the rocket struck. He described seeing "two little girls run out of the house crying and terrified." "I saw another woman lying on the street 20 meters from the house," he said. "She was hit by the shock wave," another neighbor said. "No one has the right to intervene here unless they have endured eight years of this," said Nissim Por Ishayahu, another neighbor. "The Turks and Venezuelans [whose leaders have been outspoken critics of Israel in recent days] can all shut their mouths. Let them be targeted with rockets for eight years, and then I will be prepared to listen to them." By Monday evening, the South had been targeted with 23 rockets in total, a significant drop compared with the number of rocket launches at the start of the Gaza war. Some buildings sustained damage but no injuries were reported. Beersheba residents heard an air raid siren go off during the afternoon, but the Home Front Command said it was a false alarm.