JERUSALEM (AFP) - About 10,000 Israelis gathered in Sderot on Friday to do their shopping in an act of solidarity with the southern town that is regularly targeted by rocket and mortar fire from Gaza, organisers said.
The crowd, including personalities from the world of arts, letters and sports, converged on Sderot from across Israel in response to the call, even as two more rockets struck the town without causing casualties.
For several weeks, Sderot residents have demonstrated in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, demanding the government act to stop the attacks by Palestinian militants across the border with the Gaza Strip.
In the past seven years, Palestinian militants have fired some 4,000 rockets on the impoverished town of 24,000 people, and 400 since January alone.
Despite that, only nine people have been killed, according to an AFP count. Even so, people live in constant fear. In December, a survey showed that two-thirds of respondents wanted to move out of Sderot. |