Sderot is a working-class, development town in Israel, bordering the Gaza Strip. It has been the target, on an almost daily basis, of Kassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.

There are no military targets in Sderot, the terrorists' sole goal is the targeting of civilians.

Since April 2001, some 3,000 rockets have hit Sderot.

Since Israel unilaterally pulled its civilians and soldiers out of the Gaza Strip during the summer of 2005, Palestinians in Gaza have launched more than 1,400 missile attacks on the civilians of Sderot.

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A major impact of the rocket attacks on Sderot has been psychological, with experts warning the damage would be long-lasting.
``The anxiety level with the kids is unimaginable,'' said Tami Sagie, head of psychological services in Sderot. ``We have a whole generation that was born into the Qassams, children whose first word is 'boom.'''
Sagie spoke of teenagers wetting their beds when rockets hit. Others regularly sleep with their parents, or find it difficult to concentrate, she said.
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Roni Yihye, z'l, 47, was mortally wounded by a Kassam rocket in the parking lot of Sapir College  on Feb. 27, 2008. He died of his wounds shortly afterwards.  A second man was wounded in the attack.  

Roni Yihye was buried in the Moshav Bitcha cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Esther, and four children - Niv, who is currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces, Lital, a 17-year-old high school pupil, her 14-year-old sister Coral and 8-year-old brother Idan; as well as by 10 siblings.

Oshri Oz, 35, was killed on May 27, 2007, when a Kassam rocket slammed into the road near his car in Sderot. Oz was a father of two and his widow is in the advanced stages of pregnancy. Friends described him as an "amazing fellow, only good with no bad."   Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shir'el Feldman, 32, was murdered on May 22, 2007 in a Kassam rocket attack that scored a direct hit on her car as she stood next to it near a bakery in the center of town. Ms. Feldman was pronounced dead on arrival at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon after suffering severe injuries to her chest and stomach. Ms. Feldman was born in Sderot and is survived by her parents and two older brothers.

Fatima Slutzker, a Moslem woman married to a Russian Jew, was killed in November, 2006 by a Kassam that landed in downtown Sderot.

Moshe Shlomo, 52, died in July, 2006 of a heart attack he suffered after a Kassam rocket landed near his home a few days earlier.

Dana Gelkowitz, 22, was killed in a Kassam attack in July, 2005 at Netiv HaAsarah - the only non-Sderot Kassam casualty among Israelis.

Ayala-Haya (Ella) Abukasis, 17, of Sderot died on Jan 21, 2005, of wounds suffered on January 15 when a Qassam rocket landed near her and shrapnel penetrated her cerebellum, leaving her brain dead. Kept on life support throughout the week, her parents agreed to stop treatment when doctors told them there was no chance of recovery.
On Saturday afternoon (Jan 15), the Abukasis family was at Ella's grandmother's home. They were returning home when the siren sounded, giving them 20 seconds warning of an incoming Kassam rocket. They did not have time to take cover, so she shielded Tamir, who escaped with relatively minor wounds when the rocket fell and exploded alongside them, and she was fatally wounded.

Ella's father Yonatan said that she had acted like the guardian of her 10-year-old brother from the outset of the Kassam rocket attacks on Sderot. She accompanied him everywhere, slept alongside him, waited outside the bathroom for him and went with him to the computer on the second floor of the family's home.

Dorit Aniso, 2, and Yuval Abebeh, 4, cousins, were killed by a Kassam rocket attack on Sept. 29, 2004 while playing in the street, just before the onset of the Sukkot holiday. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mordechai Yosifov, 49, and Afik Zahavi, a 3.5 year old on his way to nursery, were killed in a June, 2004 Kassam rocket attack.

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