None of Sderot’s Shelters Ready for Prolonged Kassam Onslaught, by Mijal Grinberg (Haaretz)
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“‘Sderot realized it has no one to rely on, so it is doing the work alone.'”
“The Home Front Command, meanwhile, said it was not responsible for ensuring bomb shelters are habitable.”
Full Text:
In the wake of recent warnings by military officials that Palestinians may intensify their Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, checks of bomb shelters in the hard-hit Negev town of Sderot residents have found that none of the 58 public shelters there are equipped for a long-term stay, and more than half require significant rehabolitation.
Over the next few days, the Sderot municipality is expected to request NIS 6 million from the Defense Ministry to fund the shelter preparations, which the municipality plans to complete by the end of the month.
The preparations were spurred by recent warnings from the Israel Defense Forces’ Southern Command that if the Gaza Strip security situation deteriorates, the Palestinians are liable to launch up to 100 Qassam rockets a day at Sderot, a frequent target of such attacks.
“Sderot realized it has no one to rely on, so it is doing the work alone,” a social work student said Tuesday as she went from house to house recording special needs residents may have during an extended stay in a bomb shelter. She was one of 150 students from Sapir Academic College Tuesday asking residents about their health – including any disabilities – and family status.
The purpose of the survey is to refer people with special needs to the most suitable shelters and find out if people need help getting to the shelter, said Sderot’s security officer, Yehuda Ben Maman, adding that the necessity of finding out such information in advance was a lesson he learned from this summer’s war in Lebanon. In addition, the municipality has assigned a different person responsibility for each shelter and is mapping the residents’ locations so that everyone knows where to go in an emergency.
The Home Front Command, meanwhile, said it was not responsible for ensuring bomb shelters are habitable.
“Shelters are not under the authority of the Home Front Command,” it said in a statement. “They are the responsibility of the local authority.”
An inspection by Ben Maman found that none of the 58 public shelters there are equipped for a long-term stay. “The municipality of Sderot is preparing for a situation in which many Qassams land in the city and the residents need to enter the shelters,” said Ben Maman. Many of the shelters are currently used as synagogues or youth clubs, or for other purposes.
Alex Tanzer, the Pensioners Party representative for immigrant issues, said using shelters for other purposes is problematic, and that he has received many complaints from elderly Sderot residents who say there is no usable shelter near their homes. However, Ben Maman said the dual-purpose shelters are better maintained than ones not normally in use.
The IDF has spent the last few months preparing for an escalation in Gaza, and has been training for scenarios such as sending troops into the Strip to prevent Palestinians from smuggling weapons and firing Qassams. Intelligence information indicates that Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have smuggled explosives into Gaza and have improved the deadliness, precision and range of the rockets. Intelligence officials estimate that the range of the Qassams has increased from 10 kilometers to 15.
“There is a feeling of anxiety,” said a secretary at the Sderot municipality. “People are constantly coming and asking for keys to the shelters. … People are scared.”
Several residents said the anxiety is spurred by the security assessments publicized in the media.
MK Shteinitz Disclaims Olmert’s Plans for War
Excerpt;
“The Likud MK pointed out that it is not reasonable that Prime Minister Olmert would approve a 700 million shekel cut in the defense budget if he anticipated a war.”