JERUSALEM (Reuters) -
Avi B. wanted to know if he could
receive a warning via a text message on his cell phone of an
impending rocket attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Matan wondered whether the rockets will reach the Israeli
coastal city of Ashdod, which so far has been out of range of
salvoes from militant groups across the frontier, where an
Israeli offensive has killed more than 100 Palestinians,
including about 60 civilians.
Those were just some of the questions Israelis
participating in an Internet chat on Sunday on Israel's popular
YNet news Web site posed to Lieutenant-Colonel Ariella
Ben-Avraham, a spokeswoman for the army's Home Command.
One Israeli civilian was killed by a rocket launched from
Gaza on Wednesday. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed during
the Gaza offensive.
Ben-Avraham said people living in homes with special "safe"
rooms of reinforced concrete should use them when rockets fly.
Others should go into a room facing away from Gaza to the
south.
Pedestrians and motorists on city streets should race to
the closest building for cover, she said.
Her advice to motorists on the open road: "Upon hearing an
alert ... you should pull over, get out of your car, lie down
and protect your head with your hands," she wrote.
At least one chat participant was unimpressed by the
advice.
"If Hamas is reading this, please inform us some weeks in
advance so we can sell our apartment," said the message, signed
simply "an Ashdod resident."
Palestinians in Gaza do not have an official air raid
warning system but have become well versed in taking
precautions when air strikes seem imminent.
(Writing by Brenda Gazzar; Editing by Alison Williams)
0 comments:
Post a Comment