On Sunday afternoon, May 4, Sderot residents experienced loud rocket explosions and seven ‘red alert’ siren warnings, as rockets were fired at the western Negev from the Gaza Strip. The Qassam rocket fire began a little before three in the afternoon and lasted for 45 minutes.
A Qassam rocket exploded upon the roof of Sderot’s Ace Hardware store around three o’clock in the afternoon. Five people went into shock. One Sderot home was hit, causing the structure light damage. Another rocket fell by a Sderot school in an open field. By four o’clock in the afternoon, seven Qassam rockets were fired at Sderot and the western Negev.
There appears to be a pattern to the rocket fire. Hamas and other Palestinian terror organizations actively target Sderot and the western Negev between two o’clock to three o’clock in the afternoons. These are the hours where parents pick up children from school and children go outside to play.
Sderot residents consider every rocket that does not land on a home or in public vicinity a miracle. The rocket which landed on the Ace Hardware store exploded on the roof, which is built with several layers of cement. The rocket therefore did not cause much damage as the cement prevented the rocket from entering through.
Moshe Peretz, owner of Ace Hardware store, who also oversaw the construction of the building, stated calmly that “Thank G-d, everything ended fine, the Qassam did not injure anyone.” Peretz is the CEO of Peretz Bonei HaNegev, a major construction company in the western Negev.
