(AP-Chicago Sun-Times) Ilan Ben Zion - Sirens wailed just before the Jewish holiday of Shavuot began on Sunday evening, sending Chen Farag and her family once again running for cover as they have dozens of times over the past week. The Farags live in Ashdod, a city of 225,000 people 18 miles north of the Gaza. After huddling in their home's reinforced safe room, an explosion shook the building and they rushed outside to see cars on fire, including their own. Their home's front door had been blown off, windows were blasted and shrapnel was embedded in walls. The Farag home is one of 146 buildings in Israel hit by rockets fired from Gaza. Others include homes, apartment blocks, schools, kindergartens and an oil storage tank. So far, 12 people have been killed in Israel and at least 106 suffered shrapnel and blast wounds. Ronit Ifergan, a mother of three from Kfar Aza, a kibbutz just a few of miles from Gaza, said the past week has been far more intense than previous rounds, with Hamas firing near-nonstop barrages of rockets indiscriminately into Israel.
2021-05-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive