‘Serious damage, we’re traumatized’ – Sderot man whose home was hit by rocket speaks out

“My wife called me, crying, and said that a rocket had fallen on our house,” said Avi Elkayam. “I rushed home, she said there had been an explosion and she panicked.”

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A man from the southern city of Sderot told Hebrew-language media that his family is seriously considering moving out of the region, after a rocket fired from the Islamic Jihad terror group caused enormous damage to their home.

“The entire garden, pergola, our cars, and living room were totally destroyed,” Avi Elkayam, the owner of the home, told Walla News. “There is serious damage here.”

Elkayam was at work when the rocket struck, he explained. He received a frantic phone call from his terrified wife, who was hunkered down with their children in the home’s bomb shelter.

“She called me, crying, and said that a rocket had fallen on our house. I rushed home, she said there had been an explosion and she panicked.”

Elkayam, who said his family has been living in the city situated less than a mile away from the Gaza Strip for more than 25 years, recalled the trauma of living under rocket fire during previous conflicts.

After so many years of hearing incoming siren alerts and running to their home’s bomb shelter, the family is constantly on edge, waiting for the next volley, he said.

“We get scared by any noise, anything. If the garbage man slams the lid too hard, we get startled,” he told Walla.

“But until now, we didn’t think about it too much. In the past, there were times that rockets fell 200 meters [650 feet] away from our house, but you get used to it.”

However, Elkayam said, the fact that a rocket struck their yard and damaged their home has made them reconsider their commitment to living in the town that they love.

“It’s a small city, like a family, everyone knows everyone,” he said, explaining that despite the benefits of living in the close-knit community, his family is seriously weighing moving out of the area.

He said that his family was “traumatized” from the incident and still planning their next steps.