| Lior And Her Grandfather, Haim Ben-Shimol, Manager Of The Mda Sderot Station |
Haim Ben-Shimol, manager of the MDA Sderot station, evacuated his 5-year old granddaughter, Lior, who sustained light injuries in a Qassam attack. Her father told Ynet of the moments of fear with tears in his eyes. The Qassam has overpowered him: “this time I’m leaving this town.” A missile which struck a high-voltage line caused a blackout in some of the city’s areas; Sderot after the attack.
On Tuesday evening, the 15th January 2008, Haim Ben-Shimol, manager of the MDA Sderot station evacuated his 5-year granddaughter to the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, after she sustained light injuries in a Qassam attack on the city. Her father, Yaron, told Ynet: “I can’t stay in Sderot, I’m leaving the house and this city.”
On Tuesday evening, the 15th January 2008, 18 missiles were launched at the Western Negev, bringing the total number of attacks since this morning to 26. As a result of the attacks, 4 more people sustained light injuries and others suffered anxiety attacks. One of the casualties sustained head injuries and was rushed to hospital with her daughter, who was not injured. During the last volley, at 19:00 hrs, two more missiles landed in the city, and a high voltage line was hit, and some of the city’s areas were blacked out. A 19 year old young man sustained light injuries from shrapnel during this attack. A Qassam was launched from the Gaza Strip and landed near the Eshkol Regional Council; there were no casualties or damage. An hour later, three more missiles landed in the area. Lior was staying at a friend’s house which adjoins her own when a missile struck the house. Her father, a well-known DJ in Sderot, with tears running down his eyes, told Ynet: “I heard the explosion and I guessed that the missile had landed nearby. I walked out of the house and saw that the roof of the house adjoining ours had taken a direct hit, and I went into shock because I knew my daughter was there.” He saw his daughter, bleeding, running towards him. “She had pieces of roofing tiles in her hair. I panicked, and called MDA. She’s an amazing little 5 year old girl, who’s very frightened because of what’s happening in Sderot. She had an anxiety therapy session only yesterday. Every night she dreams about the “Color Red” alarm and is very frightened. She’s really suffering.”
Lior was evacuated to the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon with superficial head injuries and shrapnel injuries to her leg. As soon as she was admitted, she was x-rayed and examined. Yaron, who has been experiencing the missile attacks on his city since 2000, told Ynet that this time he’s given up. “Once I had a feeling that we’d been abandoned, but today it’s no longer a feeling – we are being abandoned, for real. Missiles have been launched at us for seven years. They keep on saying we’ll cross one red line and then another. I’ve held up so far, but that’s it, I’m not staying here. When the shooting began today, my daughter said ‘let’s go to Eilat, it’s a lot more fun there’. I hope someone will stand up and do something.”
Geula Irgon, the Ben-Shimol’s neighbor also sustained shrapnel injuries. Her son was playing with Lior in the attic when the Qassam landed on the house. Geula sustained injuries mainly on her head, and before being wheeled into the OR, she told Ynet: “I took the ‘phone because I wanted to call my husband Shlomi to tell him to come home, but I couldn’t see anything because the blood was all over my eyes and face.” Her alarmed friends and neighbors called her husband, who arrived at a very difficult scene: his wife was covered in blood, and so was little Lior: “our son wasn’t hurt; fortunately he wasn’t in the room. My wife probably didn’t hear the ‘Color Red’ alert, as is the case whenever there are volleys launched at us.
“We’re totally overlooked; this country doesn’t relate to us as civilians. We don’t exist as far as the state is concerned and it’s a real disgrace. If a Qassam fell on Tel Aviv, it would be an entirely different story. There are tens of thousands of people in this area who live under the threat of the Qassams and they are all ignored.”
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