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5-year-old boy dead from rocket shrapnel, failure to secure window to safe room blamed

Shrapnel from a rocket that hit another apartment flew through the weak point and struck the boy. 

By World Israel News Staff

It was a death that could have been prevented. The family had done everything right — almost. Their 5-year-old son was in the safe room, which all new apartments are required to have given the reality of living in Israel. Only the steel door protecting the room’s window wasn’t sealed.

Shrapnel from a rocket that hit another apartment flew through the weak point and struck the boy. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

In addition, four other people were injured. One woman in serious condition and three others in moderate to light condition. United Hatzalah treated the injured.

United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yaakov Bar Yochai, one of the first responders, said: “We arrived at the scene of the rocket strike together with a mobile intensive care ambulance from United Hatzalah and we found the boy in critical condition and the woman in serious condition.

“Unfortunately, the boy was pronounced dead at the scene due to the severity of injuries that he suffered. We provided medical treatment to the woman and a number of other people injured.”

The boy’s death brings to six the number of people killed by rockets launched from the Gaza Strip. Hamas and the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad are not attempting to hit military targets but shooting indiscriminately in the hope of killing civilians, men, women and children. The death of the boy will be celebrated as a victory in the Gaza Strip.

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The other victims are Staff. Sgt. Omer Tabib. An anti-tank missile fired by Hamas struck his jeep near the northern part of the Gaza Strip earlier Wednesday.

Sumia Santosh, 32, a foreign caretaker from India, was killed by a direct hit in Ashkelon on Tuesday. The woman she took care of, Naomi Perlman, is in serious condition at Barzilai Medical Center.

Nela Gurvitz, 52, was killed by a direct hit in Ashkelon as well. Her husband was seriously injured and remains in hospital.

Halil Awad, 52, and his daughter, Nadin, 16, were killed when a missile struck their car. They were from a local Arab village near Lod.

Leah Yom Tom, 63, from Rishon LeZion, was killed on Tuesday. Mother of five and grandmother to five, she was killed by a direct hit on her home on Tuesday.