8-year-old seriously wounded in Sderot rocket attack

From JPost.com Feb 8, 2008:

Two brothers, an eight-year-old boy and a youth aged 19, were seriously wounded as a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck Sderot on Saturday night....

The boy was wounded in both his legs before being evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon with his brother. The victims' parents were lightly wounded in the strike. Both boys were conscious upon arrival to the hospital.

Five rockets were fired during the barrage - three of which landed inside of the city. One of the rockets landed in a neighborhood at a time when the group was crossing the street. The family had apparently tried to find cover after hearing the Red Alert Siren which sounded seconds before the hit. The other two rockets landed in open areas outside close to Sderot.

The Islamic Jihad's military wing, Al Kuds' Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Sderot residents, who blocked traffic in both directions at the southern entrance to the town in protest of the government's "neglect" on Friday night, plan to demonstrate outside of the Knesset on Sunday, Army Radio reported.

Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter paid a visit to the beleaguered town.
"I found a battered town where some 20 percent of residents have simply upped and left," Army Radio quoted Dichter as saying....

.... "When I traveled in the direction of Sderot," continued Dichter, "I saw crowds arriving for the 'Red South' festival, but when I got to Sderot, I saw desolate streets, emptied of people - people closed up inside their homes."

On Sunday, the public security minister is due to brief the cabinet on his visit to the town.
After a turbulent Friday on which some 40 Kassams and mortar shells slammed into the western Negev, the attacks continued Saturday morning as two rockets fired from Gaza hit the Sha'ar Hanegev region....

....Late Friday, two Sderot homes suffered direct hits from Kassams, sending six people into shock - four of whom were eating their Shabbat dinner when the rockets struck.
One man was evacuated to a hospital, suffering from chest pains, and two other residents of the town were lightly wounded after falling down while scampering for shelter from the rockets.

Following Friday's rocket barrage, Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman issued a complaint to the UN secretary-general and the UNSC president. ....

....Meanwhile, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that the rocket attacks were a justified response to Israel's attacks on Gaza.

Haniyeh also said that there was no progress in negotiations to secure the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit....