"Lot of buildings falling in the town"; says Sderot Mayor as Hamas launches fresh rocket attack

By Ashoke Raj
Sderot [Israel], October 12 : Sderot City along the Gaza border was the target once again for Hamas rockets on Thursday. A rocket launched from the Hamas hideouts in Gaza landing on the Yitzhak Shamir Road in the city destroyed cars parked on the road and left three people injured.
Giving details about the attack, Sderot mayor Alon Davidi on Thursday said, "We have three people injured very seriously and lot of buildings falling in the town."
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Davidi urged the residents of Israel to pay attention to the alerts from the Army and municipality and asked them not to walk around the streets to save their lives.
"I want that the people of Israel, they must pay attention to the order of the Army and the order of the municipality. If you will be on streets you will die," he said.
When asked how many people are in the town to be evacuated, he shared, "I want to evacuate everyone from here. I want them to have a safer place to stay so that they can stay there for a long time. About 20000 people need to get out of the town but they need help from the government to support them, to find a place to stay."
Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Forces said that Hamas brought ISIS flags to Israel when they had infiltrated various parts of South Israel last weekend.
In a post shared on X, Israeli Defence Forces stated, "Hamas brought ISIS flags to massacre Israeli children, women and men. Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization. Hamas is worse than ISIS."
The death toll in Israel since the Hamas attack has jumped to 1,300 and some 3300 have been injured, including 28 in critical condition and 350 in serious condition, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media reports. The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack by Hamas is still unclear, the report said.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military has so far notified families of 97 hostages who were being held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.
Coordinator for the Captives and Missing Brigadier General (Ret.) Gal Hirsch said that forces during the fighting are making three efforts which include intelligence-operational effort, an effort to formulate an assessment of the situation regarding the captives and missing and the effort to assist the families of the people who have been kept captive or are missing.
In a statement posted on X Israeli Prime Minister office said, "Coordinator for the Captives & Missing Brig.-Gen. (Ret.) Gal Hirsch: "Dear families, even during the fighting, we are making three main efforts: 1. The intelligence-operational effort 2. An effort to formulate an assessment of the situation regarding the captives and missing."
Israeli PM's office in the post on X stated, "Government effort to assist the families of the captives and missing. The searches in the field are continuing and the difficult work of identifying the bodies continues. Many of those who were injured are being treated in hospital and we are investigating every piece of information that could assist us in locating the missing."
Brigadier-General (Ret.) Gal Hirsch said he spoke with US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and deputy Steven Gillen, who is specially travelling to Israel.
Hirsch said, "I spoke with US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and today I will meet his deputy, Steven Gillen, who is specially coming to Israel. The warm ties, the heartfelt concern and American commitment to assist in every way possible is very important to us."
He noted that many Israelis are contacting the military with offers to help and volunteer. He stated that he was moved by the "strong spirit" of Israelis during the fighting. Hirsch noted that he and his staff are working round the clock for the missing, captives and their families.