Be’er Sheva Mayor Preparing for Rockets
The mayor of Be’er Sheva, says his municipality has begun to make preparations for the possibility that rockets from Gaza may rain down upon its residents.

by Hana Levi Julian, Arutz Sheva
December 22, 2008

Be'er Sheva is located in the northern Negev
 

The mayor of Be’er Sheva, known as the “Capital of the Negev,” says his municipality has begun to make preparations for the possibility that rockets from Gaza may rain down upon its residents.

Mayor Rubick Danielovitz made the remark Sunday after Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief Yuval Diskin notified ministers at the weekly Cabinet meeting that the Hamas terrorists now possess rockets capable of reaching Be’er Sheva.

Danielovitz said the city currently has 250 public shelters, which it is preparing to serve its 200,000 residents, and will also be connected to the Color Red incoming missile alert system.

"In recent years, with the assistance of Home Front Command and funding also from the municipality, we renovated most of the shelters," he noted in an interview with the Hebrew-language Ha'aretz newspaper.

Until now, the terrorist organization has employed short-range homemade Kassam rockets to reach nearby communities such as Sderot and others in the Gaza Belt region. They also use medium-range Grad-type Katyusha rockets, similar to the ones used by Hizbullah terrorists during the Second Lebanon War, to attack longer-range targets such as the port city of Ashkelon.

The coastal city of Ashdod – the second-largest port in Israel, as well as the communities of Yavne and Gedera, were also notified that they are now within striking range of Hamas missiles as well.

Yavne Mayor Zvi Gov Ari said the primary problem in his community is not the number of shelters available, but how long it will take residents to get to them. "We will have to practice it," he said. "To date, no guidelines have been received from Home Front Command on the level of risk faced by our city."

Home Front Command has recommended that all communities within a 40-kilometer range of Gaza be hooked up to the Color Red incoming missile alert system.

Ashkelon Mayor Threatens School Strike Over Rocket Attacks
Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin warned Sunday that he will close the city’s schools if there is another Grad rocket attack by Gaza terrorists on his city.

Vaknin made the statement after the port city was struck by a barrage of the medium-range rockets.

“It can’t be that today, when the alarm sounds in Ashkelon, 30,000 students have to hide under their desks and look for protection,” he said.

The mayor added that his city would work diligently during the Chanukah vacation to formulate a plan of action to deal with the threat.

In Sderot schools, all outdoor Chanukah activities were canceled Monday and residents were ordered to keep their children indoors.