Israeli Killed in Rocket Attack
By Tzippe Barrow
CBN News - Jerusalem Bureau
May 22, 2007
CBNNews.com - SDEROT, Israel - Monday evening, while Sderot business owners met to discuss the increasing barrage of Kassam rocket attacks in their city, 32-year-old Shirel Friedman stood outside her car in front of a bakery in the center of town.
Click Play on the right to watch CBN News Mideast Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell's report and analysis on the escalating violence.
Moments later, she was fatally injured when one of a five-rocket salvo hit her car. She bled to death in the ambulance en route to the hospital.
One man wounded by shrapnel remains hospitalized in fair condition, another was treated and discharged, and 12 others were treated for shock.
Hours after the fatal attack, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was in Sderot for the second time in a week. Refusing to take shelter when Kassams landed nearby, the prime minister was quoted as saying, "If you're staying, I'm staying too."
Following Olmert's visit, Sderot mayor Eli Moyal told the press he didn't have much to say to the prime minister.
"Sderot mourns another resident tonight, killed by a direct Kassam hit," he said. "There are plenty of talks and visits, but the Kassams keep falling and taking their toll in blood. The bottom line is the prime minister doesn't have answers for us," said the mayor.
Later, Omert traveled to Kibbutz Nir-Am, south of Sderot, where he told residents that while the government would "lift bureaucratic obstacles" to reinforce homes and other structures against rockets, there's no "immediate solution" to Kassam attacks.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana were meeting in Sderot when the 8:00 p.m. attack occurred. Livni told reporters afterward that Israel would not consider a cease-fire whose only purpose is to give Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups time to regroup.
Following the attack, angry Sderot residents clashed with police, throwing stones at the municipality building and shouting at the passing motorcade carrying Livni and Solana.
A total of 25 rockets landed in the western Negev before midnight, one in an industrial area in Sderot and another in the center of town.
High Alert Ahead of Holiday
After receiving 10 specific terror warnings, security forces across the country have been put on high alert ahead of the Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) holiday, which begins at sundown Tuesday. A closure is in place in the West Bank and Gaza. Additional army and police have been deployed to areas where crowds will gather, such as recreational areas for holiday picnics on Wednesday.
There will also be extra security personnel at the Kotel (Western Wall) for this holiday, which commemorates the giving of the Torah (first five books of Moses) on Mt. Sinai. Thousands are expected to come there to pray.
Sources: The Jerusalem Post, YNet, Israel National News
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