By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Thursday ordered that the ‘Red Color’ alert system be employed in the southern town of Ashkelon in response to repeated rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.
The alert system, a siren that warns of incoming rockets, is expected to be activated within a short period of time, local daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
The decision was made in response to continuous rocket attacks from Gaza militants.
Ten Grad rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, some 10 km south of Ashkelon, pounded the port town earlier in the day, the report said.
Two long-range Grad rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip hit Ashkelon on Thursday evening. One of the rockets landed near a school in the center of town. A 17-year-old girl suffered light shrapnel wounds in the latest attack and several other people suffered from anxiety.
So far, the alert system had only been used in rocket-battered communities such as Sderot.