T'Ain't The Season...

Some bad news from our former home. First, before the fighting started and while the "truce" was still in effect:

Steep increase in rocket fire despite 'truce'

According to the security establishment's data, 2008 saw an increase of over a thousand rockets and mortars from the previous year.

More like "A truce for me, but not for thee".


In Ashkelon, officials must decide: emergency or business as usual?

"If you cancel something, you send a message of instability, which increases the residents' distress," Greenfeld, the security head, said. "At the same time, it's important you know that after such incidents, some people report unwelcome feelings like sadness, a depressed mood, a lack of interest in things that interested them beforehand, nightmares, difficulties sleeping, and recurring images and thoughts about the incident."

"These are to be expected in the days following a difficult incident. Therefore, they should not arouse unusual worry. We know that most of these feelings disappear after a number of days or weeks,"

Or years. Or never.


'30,000 kids unprotected in Ashkelon'

"Not to mention thousands of unprotected residents," he [the mayor] continued.

Oh yeah, them too.


This was the talk before last week about Ashdod, a good 10 minute drive north from Ashkelon (away from Gaza):
Ashdod residents under missile threat

The move was launched for fear that terror organizations in the Gaza Strip have managed to significantly increase their rocket launching range, to up to 30 kilometers (18.6 miles).

New article, but this is actually three year old news.


And now:
Rockets land east of Ashdod

This was the most northern point hit by rockets fired from Gaza so far - more than 40 kilometers (25 miles) away from the Strip. An air raid siren was sounded in the Ashkelon and Ashdod area at around 9:30 am, followed explosions heard in the area. A siren also sounded in the Yavne area in central Israel.

It gets worse.


One killed, at least eleven wounded as Grad hits Ashkelon

One person was killed Monday morning and eleven were wounded when a Grad type missile hit a construction site in the city center of Ashkelon on Monday morning. ... Most of the people at the site were Arab construction workers from Rahat and the Manda village in the Galilee.

Sad.