Sderot (Hebrew: שְדֵרוֹת) is a western Negev city in the Southern District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 20,700.[1] The city has been an ongoing target of Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. In March 2008, the mayor said the population had declined by 10%-15% as families left the city in desperation (aid organizations say the figure is closer to 25%). Many of the families that remain cannot afford to move out or are unable to sell their homes.[2] Sderot, less than a mile from Gaza, has been the target of Palestinian rocket attacks which, between 2001 and 2008, killed 13 Israelis living near the Gaza border, wounded dozens, caused millions of dollars in damage, and profoundly disrupted daily life.[3] According to MSNBC, "nearly everyone [has been] traumatized by the frequent sound of air-raid sirens and explosions of incoming projectiles". All local schools have been fortified.[4] From mid-June 2007 to mid-February 2008, 771 rockets and 857 mortar bombs were fired at Sderot and the western Negev, an average of three or four each a day.[5]
