By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAFF, APidf tank aiming at YOU 248 88 ap(photo credit: AP)
A Grad-model Katyusha rocket landed in the vicinity of Ashkelon on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, two cars were severely damaged when a Kassam rocket fired by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip hit a parking lot in a Sha'ar Hanegev kibbutz. There were no casualties in the attack, which came shortly before children were set to leave for school.
The Ashkelon Municipality was advised by security sources to prepare for a trickle of rockets in the coming days, but could expect them to cease soon afterward, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Hours after the rocket fell, the city's municipality reiterated a request to the Home Front Command to implement a plan to protect educational facilities through rocket-proof reinforcement structures.
Ten schools and 22 kindergartens have no protection whatsoever against rocket attacks, Ashkelon Deputy Mayor Shlomo Cohen said, adding that the ongoing rockets fired at the city came as no surprise to local authority heads.
"We thought this would continue - whoever believed Operation Cast Lead would end the rockets in one fell swoop is beginning to understand that the reality is different," Cohen said.
"We are not asking for protection for the whole city, or even for all the schools, but only for basic protection for a reasonable number of schools and kindergartens. Our request is more urgent than ever," Cohen added.
"I believe the message is beginning to get through to decision-makers," he said.
Schools remained open in the city on Sunday despite the attacks, and Ashkelon will continue to maintain a low-level state of emergency for the time being, according to municipality spokeswoman Anat Wienstein-Berkovits.
"We can switch to a full-blown state of emergency very quickly if needed," she added.
Home Front Command officials surveyed schools and kindergartens on Sunday and on Thursday as part of preparations to install the reinforcements.
Yaakov Katz contributed to this report
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