Israel Matzav

'We will know how to respond'

Two brothers from Sderot - an 8-year old and a 19-year old - were seriously hurt tonight when a Kassam rocket exploded next to them before the "code red" warning went off. The two were taken to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon where the older brother is out of danger, but the 8-year old is still in danger of losing his legs, which are loaded with shrapnel. Some reports indicate that the eight-year old already lost part of a leg. The 'Palestinians' - may God blot out their memory - thought this was reason to 'celebrate.'

More than fifty Kassam rockets slammed into the western Negev today, and the residents are getting increasingly angry. They attempted to reach the home of 'defense minister' Ehud Barach, but the police kept them from doing so.

Anger boiled over in Sderot on Saturday night as residents took to the streets, demanding that the government take stronger steps against the rocket fire from Gaza following a Kassam strike that shattered one local family's Shabbat.

Two brothers from Sderot, aged eight and 19, were seriously wounded and two other members of their family were also hospitalized when a rocket fired from northern Gaza - one of almost four dozen launched this weekend - struck two meters from where the boys were standing.

Eyewitnesses said the brothers were walking when the first rocket slammed into the ground two meters from eight-year-old Osher Twito and his 19-year-old brother, Rami.

Some at the scene said that the Color Red warning siren sounded only after the first rocket had already struck. One man said that he and his friends ran to the attack site and saw the boys lying on the ground and bleeding, with Osher screaming: "Save me, save me!"

Magen David Adom teams rushed Rami and Osher to Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital, where the 19-year-old's condition was upgraded to moderate while doctors operated to save the life of the younger boy, who suffered severe shrapnel wounds to both of his legs.

The brothers' mother and 15-year-old brother were also hospitalized at Barzilai, where they were treated for shock.

Five rockets were fired during the barrage; three - including the one that hit near the Twito family - struck the western Negev town.

Islamic Jihad's military wing, the Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack. Within minutes, angry residents began to take to the streets, burning tires and demanding that the government stop the rocket fire from Gaza.

In response, the government shook its finger and said "nu nu nu." Or as Ehud Barak used to put it when he was Prime Minister and the Oslo War started in the fall of 2000: "We will know how to respond."

"Israel will take resolute and decisive measures to protect our citizens," government spokesman David Baker said. "We will not allow Israeli families to be victimized by Palestinian rockets in the heart of their own cities."

And respond they have: The government sent the IAF to bomb three empty buildings tonight. That link only mentions Khan Yunis (the 'installation' was a metal weapons factory, and of course no one was there at this hour of the night), but the 2:00 AM news also mentioned Rafah and Gaza City. Apparently a mistake was made because there may have even been some casualties in the Rafah strike.

I hear Tel Aviv was quiet tonight.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:57 AM