Residents of Israeli town stunned by Hamas onslaught

SDEROT: “Every second we thought that we were going to die,” Ortal Dadya said after emerging from the safe room of her home where she hid when Hamas fighters stormed Sderot.

The stunned 39-year-old Israeli mother described Saturday´s violence in the town near the Gaza Strip as “something that I never, never saw” in the past.

Residents of Sderot were left reeling from the unprecedented assault by the militants.

As Israel declared war in response and retaliated with repeated air strikes on densely populated Gaza, each side has reported hundreds killed. The residents of Sderot remain fearful.

“I want to go out from Sderot, but I´m afraid, my kids don´t want to go out,” Dadya told AFP, standing in a stairwell after spending more than a day in an apartment safe room.

Israeli officials have not yet said how many of the approximately 600 people the government has said were killed in the attack died in Sderot.

Health officials in Gaza have reported 370 fatalities in the territory, with the tally on both sides expected to rise. Signs of violence still litter Sderot, with flies swarming around blood-soaked clothes and emergency medical supplies scattered outside the police station.

Some Israelis peered cautiously out of apartment windows on Sunday, as one resident tried to sweep up some of the debris and glass. Daniel Machluf, who was visiting the town when the attack took place, said friends of his had been killed or wounded.

“Rockets started and we just sat and waited until it ended. After that, all the sound of the bullets and the guns came from outside,” said the 24-year-old. “We just hope that everything´s going to finish now,” he added.