Gov't 'Defending' Ashkelon with 'Panic Button' System
(IsraelNN.com) The Home Front Command is funding more than $100 million for the installation of a panic button system in pre-school nurseries and schools to make it easier to alert authorities in the event of a rocket attack on Ashkelon, where Arab terrorists recently have renewed rocket assaults. The port city is home to strategic sites, including oil and gas pipelines and a huge electric generating station.
Former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said at the time of the IDF withdrawal from Gaza two years ago that Israel would retaliate with force "even if one rocket" is fired against the country. After thousands of Kassam rockets and mortar shellings on Sderot, Ashkelon and the rest of the western Negev, the government has kept a low profile against terrorists except for the occasional targeting of cells and several hit-and-run arrest missions.
Intelligence officials have warned that Gaza-based terrorists have developed longer range rockets, including the Katyusha.
Gov't 'Defending' Ashkelon with 'Panic Button' System
