Mortar shell hits Netiv Haasara (archives)
Photo: Amir Cohen
8 mortar shells hit community of Netiv Haasara
Shells fired from northern Gaza Strip land in western Negev, causing damage to two houses
Eight mortar shells were fired Sunday from the northern Gaza Strip towards the western Negev. Two of the mortars hit the community of Netiv Haasara, and the rest landed in open areas.
One of the mortars fell between two houses, causing damage. Moira Dror's daughter lives in one of the houses, which was hit by shrapnel. "She left one or two minutes before the mortar hit the house," she said.
The second building hit was the house of a woman and her two children. Luckily, they were not at home during the strike.
"We have a lot of luck or miracles," Dror added. "We live about 200 meters (656 feet) from (the northern Gaza Strip town of) Beit Hanoun. As opposed to Qassam rockets, which have an alert system, we try to listen to the mortars being launched and manage run to the bomb shelters. But that only happens when the window is open and it's very quiet. Today we didn't hear it. It was very quick, and fell right next to us.
The Palestinians recently resumed the firing of mortar shells at Netiv Haasara, hitting only the southern part of the community, particularly one street.
According to Dror, the house opposite hers was hit by a mortar which damaged the living room. An additional mortar destroyed the computer room in another house.
One of the mortars landed about 4 meters (13.12 feet) away from Dror as she was hanging the laundry, but did not explode. Several weeks ago she received balloons and chocolates from residents living in the northern part of the community.
"They said that they identify with what we are going through. It's hallucinatory. The size of this entire community is 1.5 kilometers (4,221 feet), and the fire is directed at an area of 600-700 meters (1,920-2,296 feet)."
