Toddler hurt in Qassam strike on Ashkelon-area kibbutz

A 2-year-old infant was lightly wounded yesterday when a Qassam rocket landed outside his home on a kibbutz in the western Negev.

The rocket, fired by Palestinian militants from the nearby Gaza Strip, landed two meters away from the house, causing damage to the structure as well as to adjacent buildings.

"I was at work when it happened," said Arnon Katzir, the boy's father.

The child's mother, Sivan, who is six months pregnant, did not hear the "Color Red" siren that alerts local residents to incoming rockets, and so she failed to take cover in the house's shelter.

"I ran toward [the baby,]" she said. "My baby's cheek was hurt." Katzir went into shock but was not physically hurt in the attack. Both mother and child was taken to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for treatment. Toward the evening, they were released from the hospital, and returned to their home where the family said it planned on staying despite the repeated attacks.

"We put nylon sheets on the broken windows and we are staying here," Arnon Katzir defiantly said.

Ashkelon mayor seeks 'special status' too

Palestinians launched a series of rocket attacks on Israel over the weekend, including one that hit a factory in the western Negev Friday. On Thursday, in the wake of the ongoing barrage, the cabinet declared a "special situation" in Sderot and in other communities bordering the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Ashkelon Mayor Yair Farjun said any funds diverted to Sderot and its environs to reinforce buildings against attacks as part of the "special situation" must also be allocated to his city, also in range of the rockets.

"No doubt, Sderot has taken more hits," Farjun said. "But it must be made clear that any government decision on reinforcing [buildings against Qassams] is relevant to us as well."