Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal will demand that the government declare an emergency situation in the town and take responsibility for its security situation.

Some 40 rockets were fired at the western Negev over the weekend, 15 of them landed in Sderot, wounding four people lightly. One rocket hit a parked car, another damaged a factory and a third caused a fire near Sapir College. One woman was treated for shock.

	Advertisement

Some 10 rockets landed in the Sderot Negev regional council, causing damage to one structure. Two buildings were damaged in the Eshkol regional council.

Schools will not open in Sderot today. Thousands have left Sderot over the last four days, some to organized recreation spots and others independently. The Sha'ar Hanegev regional council will send junior and junior high pupils to activities in other areas today. The Eshkol council will close down two schools near the Zohar communities.

Moyal met senior municipal and security officials last night and decided, in view of the town's economic distress, to demand that an emergency situation be declared. This way it will not be the municipality, but the government that is responsible for the town's security.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz agreed last night to speed up the protection of homes in Sderot and communities around the Gaza Strip.

The agreement, which will be discussed in today's cabinet meeting, stipulates that 200 safeguarded rooms will be built each month, with construction beginning immediately.

Shortly after the first rockets fell yesterday morning, Peretz said that the state's failure to protect its citizens from rocket fire was immense. He blamed the failure to erect a rocket-defense system on the defense ministers that preceded him, as well as on former chiefs of staff, singling out former defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, who previously served as IDF chief of staff.

"Someone decided that the [rocket] fire on Sderot is statistical, and there is no reason to invest in [preventing] it. The threat facing Sderot is not a statistical threat, but a strategic threat," Peretz said.

The southern district police commander said on Friday that police are taking steps to prepare for a Qassam strike on Ashkelon.