New Qassam salvo on Sderot - Olmert & Peretz spar over evacuating the settlement

Source: Haaretz, 17-5-2007
As Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense (War) Minister Amir Peretz sparred over the issue of whether to evacuate the residents (settlers) of Sderot, seven Qassam rockets struck the embattled area early on Thursday, one of them slamming into a high school, lightly wounding two settlers.
Another rocket hit the yard of a house, without causing injury. Palestinian gunners struck Sderot and its environs with more than 30 Qassam rockets on Wednesday alone.
Following a decision by Olmert on Wednesday, the military prepared to take `harsh` measures in an effort to stem new attacks.
"Israel" Radio reported Thursday that the Defense Ministry had begun evacuating a number of Sderot residents to a Association for Soldiers` Welfare hostel in the northern town of Givat Olga.
Olmert has opposed evacuating Sderot, Peretz` home town, where one rocket slammed into a house near the defense minister`s own on Wednesday. Peretz has proposed that sizable numbers of residents be brought out of the city for a "break" from the rocket attacks, which have continued sporadically for the last five years.
Municipality officials said that many families have already left the city on their own. Schools in the city will be closed Thursday for the second day in a row.
Hundreds of Sderot settlers have signed up for a program to receive rooms in Society for Soldier`s Welfare hostels in other areas of the country. Sderot city officials and the Defense (War) Ministry have opened an information hotline for Sderot residents interested in leaving the city.
In tandem, tycoon Arkadi Gaydamak has funded rooms for some 600 Sderot settlers in a Be`er Sheva hotel.