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Sederot (שדרות; unofficially also spelled Sderot) is a city in the Southern District of Israel in Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2004 the city had a total population of 19,900.
Demographics
According to CBS, in 2001 the ethnic makeup of the city was 99.8% Jewish and other non-Arabs, without significant Arab population. In 2001 there were 132 immigrant settlers. See Population groups in Israel.
According to CBS, in 2001 there were 9,500 males and 9,700 females. The population of the city was spread out with 36.5% 19 years of age or younger, 16.2% between 20 and 29, 19.6% between 30 and 44, 14.3% from 45 to 59, 3.8% from 60 to 64, and 9.5% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2004 was 0.7%.
Income
According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 6,301 salaried workers and 367 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is ILS 3,845, a real change of 9.0% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of ILS 4,911 (a real change of 11.3%) versus ILS 2,665 for females (a real change of 2.4%). The mean income for the self-employed is 5,378. There are 603 people who receive unemployment benefits and 3,183 people who receive an income guarantee.
Education
According to CBS, there are 14 schools and 3,578 students in the city. They are spread out as 11 elementary schools and 2,099 elementary school students, and 6 high schools and 1,479 high school students. 56.5% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.
City under attack
Sederot lies only a kilometer from the Gaza Strip, and it is a target for constant shelling by Palestinian militants, mainly from Hamas. Sederot is frequently shelled by mortars bombs and by Qassam rockets. More than 350 rockets fell over the southern town, terrorizing the inhabitants, destroying property, and causing injuries and fatalities. The shelling and rocket attacks are generally indiscriminate, and are not directed against security forces targets. Sederot has lost seven people, including three children, to Palestinian attacks emanating from Gaza in the seven months up to January 2005.
On June 28, 2004, a Qassam rocket called Nasser 3 hit a kindergarten, killing a four-year-old child and a 49-year-old man. The child's mother was critically wounded.
On September 29, 2004, the eve of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, two Israeli children, Dorit Insu (3 years old) and Yuval Ababeh (5 years old), were killed after a Qassam rocket attack from Palestinian militants on Sederot. On September 30, the Israeli Defence Forces launched Operation Days of Penitence, which killed dozens of Palestinians including many civilians, in order to stop Palestinian militants from launching rockets over Sederot, and at other Israeli communities and Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli incursion failed to stop rocket attacks.
Three were killed in January 2005 in an attack at the Karni Crossing. In addition, two siblings of the Abukasis family were wounded in yet another of the incessant Qassam attacks, and 17-year-old Ayala Chaya remained in critical condition. She sustained a brain stem injury and remained comatose on life-support apparatus. Her name was changed, with the guidance of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, from Ela to Ayala Chaya, symbolizing life. Her brother Tamir, 11, whom she protected during the attack, was listed in moderate condition with shrapnel injuries to his head.
The Israeli government has installed a "Red Dawn" alarm system giving residents 15-20 seconds of warning, but this system works only intermittently and is considered insufficient.
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