In an assessment of the situation which MDA Director General held on Friday (18.5) before the weekend, together with Regional Directors and members of his Staff, the Director General reported that the Head of the Operations Department accompanied him on a visit to some of the sub stations in the area around the Gaza Strip, and that he was impressed with the level of alert and preparedness in the Southern District. MDA Director General stressed the high level of motivation and good will shown by the Directors, workers and volunteers to give of their free time to man the stations, and that this is worthy of great appreciation and thanks. Following orders of the Director General, a joint exercise was carried out in the Southern District between the Lachish and Negev regions, pretending that a number of Kassam missiles had fallen at the same time, in different locations and different cities. In the initial summary of the exercise MDA Director General said that it was a success and that it helped the district be prepared for any possible scenario. MDA Director General repeated his order to reinforce the stations in the area around the Gaza Strip with volunteers, and reinforce the orders for teams going out to the scene with regard to personal protection and behaviour when the “Red Code” alert is sounded, and behaviour at the actual site. The Regional Directors and those with special positions reported to the Director General about any activities within their specific realms of authority.
Activities of Sderot MDA crews during the weekend in the shadow of the Kassams:
8:00 Friday (18.5)
One missile landed near Sderot and MDA teams were sent to scout the area, the event ended with no damage or wounded. The inhabitants hardly had time to get over the first volley when 2 minutes later 3 additional missiles fell on the city. Luckily, after searches by MDA teams it became apparent that also this time there was no damage and nobody wounded.
8:25 Friday (18.5)
An additional volley of missiles. Two fell in open areas, one hit a corn field and caused a fire. MDA teams who arrived at the scene protected the firemen who tried to control the fire.
9:45 Friday (18.5)
Two additional volleys. One of the missiles directly hit a house, and the other fell near a Gas station. MDA teams who were sent to the scene transported one man who was lightly injured to hospital, and four additional people suffering from anxiety attacks. The house was badly damaged.
10:00 Friday (18.5)
The Minister of Health, Yaakov ben Yizri, and the Minister of Pensioners’ Affairs, Rafi Eitan, from the Pensioners Party, visit the Sderot MDA Station and are given a full overview of how MDA is prepared and acts by the Director General of MDA, Eli Bin, and the Director of the Southern District, Yehuda Shoshan.
17:15 Friday (18.5)
Once again the “Red Code” alert is heard in the city. A few minutes later one missile landed in an open area, and the second one in a school in the city. MDA teams were yet again sent to the scenes and transported one lightly injured person to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
21:40 Friday (18.5)
Two addition missiles landed in the area, one on one of the roads in Sderot and the second in the Eshkol local council. One lightly injured person and three suffering from anxiety were treated on the spot by MDA teams.
11:00 Saturday (19.5)
Two Kassams fell in the city. The MDA teams who rushed to the scene yet again luckily realized that damage was caused only to one of the factories and a fire broke out in a field of corn on the outskirts of the city.
14:50 Saturday (19.5)
Another explosion was heard in the city. A kassam missile directly hit a car, and completely destroyed it. An inhabitant of the city, who was at that time in her home, was lightly injured after falling because of the blast, and was hit in the head. An MDA ambulance transported her to Barzilai Hospital.
18:30 Saturday (19.5)
During the evening another missile landed in an open area, without wounded and with no damage. MDA teams who were rushed to the scene were this time left without work.
20:45 Saturday (19.5)
Two missiles were fired in the direction of the villages in the local council area of Sdot Negev. MDA teams who are well trained, were again sent to the scene which ended without damage or injuries.
20:58 Saturday (19.5)
A Kassam missile landed in an open field in the Sderot cemetery. After searching the area the MDA teams reported with relief to the Dispatching Centre, that once again there was no damage nor injuries.
21:21 Saturday (19.5)
A Kassam missile directly hit the Secretariat building of the Eshkol local council, another an open area in Or Haner and in a suburb of Sderot. MDA teams transported one man, suffering from anxiety from Sderot. There were no wounded at the other two sites.
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