Sirens blare in my head. Realizing this is not a drill, I jump out of bed and dash to the closest bomb shelter. Within seconds, the room fills with American, Canadian and Israeli students, all here in fear for their lives. Boom one, that was close... boom two, that was closer... wait for it... boom three. I hope no one was hurt. This is when the phones began to ring. Listening to hysterical Jewish mothers, and even frantic fathers, it’s now the child’s role to calm the parents. ...

The most chilling comment I've seen on the mid-March surge of violence from Gaza, when terrorists at Israel in four days, was made almost three weeks earlier. The rocket fire had been steadily increasing, indicating that the deterrent effect of Israel's 2009 war in Gaza was fading, and Israel Defense Forces officers were discussing whether another large-scale operation in Gaza was needed. " " The Jerusalem Post reported, "is whether it needs to wait for a successful attack by...

We walk downstairs and underground into a bomb shelter where the Sderot municipality is housed. The first words from Shalom Halevi, a Sderot native and city representative: “I understand that there are those of you who are frightened. Be cool Don’t be frightened. We are living like this 11 years.” Roy Idan Sderot Media Center Archive Over the past 11 years, thousands of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip have targeted Sderot, a city in the western Negev that lies less than...

300 rockets were fired from Gaza at southern Israel during the month of March but far from fleeing, LINDA GRADSTEIN finds new residents buying homes in battle-scarred Sderot. RACHEL TZADKA IS HAUNTED BY THE DAY, JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO, when her father was killed by a Grad missile fired from Gaza into Ashkelon. “It was so sudden,” she tells The Jerusalem Report at a clinic for disadvantaged youth in the small town of Sderot where she works several afternoons a week. “We...

No long showers? No loud music? Constant threat of rocket attack? Welcome to the town of Sderot, Israel. A caterpillar bomb shelter in a Sderot playground. Photos credit: Max Fruchter As one of eight children, I was shocked by the sight before my eyes. The bomb shelter looked like it held only about 25 people. Unfortunately, in most cases there are more than 25 civilians who need shelter here. Yet this isn’t what bothered me the most. The fact that there were at least five other...