Editing Sderot (section)

===21st century===
{{See also|Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|Gaza war}}
[[File:Qassam-Rockets-Sderot.jpg|thumb|The remnants of [[Qassam rockets]] fired on Sderot]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Sderotchilddrawing.jpg|right|thumb|"Someone has been wounded" – Drawing by a 7-year old Sderot resident {{deletable image-caption|Monday, 21 December 2015}}]] -->
[[File:Iron Dome near Sderot.jpg|right|thumb|[[Iron Dome]] rocket defense battery near Sderot]]
[[File:Rocketpopmap.jpeg|thumb|Sderot is located in the 10–15&nbsp;sec of [[BM-21 Grad|Grad]] rocket range]]
[[File:SderotBurningFactory1.JPG|thumb|A factory burns in Sderot after a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip in June 2014]]

From 2001, in the beginning stage of the [[Second Intifada]], the city was a target for rockets from the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/This-Week-in-History-The-first-Kassam-hits-Sderot |title = This Week in History: The first Kassam hits Sderot - Features - Jerusalem Post| date=April 15, 2011 }}</ref> Rocket fire intensified after the [[Israeli disengagement from Gaza]] in 2005,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jta.org/2006/12/05/archive/as-the-rockets-continue-to-fall-anxiety-and-depression-grip-sderot | title=As the Rockets Continue to Fall, Anxiety and Depression Grip Sderot| date=2006-12-05}}</ref> with the city sustaining constant rocket fire from [[Qassam rockets]] launched by [[Hamas]] and [[Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine|Islamic Jihad]].<ref name="sderotmedia" />

In May 2007, a significant increase in shelling from Gaza prompted the temporary evacuation of thousands of residents.<ref name="iht" /> By November 23, 2007, 6,311 rockets had fallen on the city.<ref name="israelinsider-sackett" /> ''[[Yediot Ahronoth]]'' reported that during the summer of 2007, 3,000 of the city's 22,000 residents (consisting mostly of the city's key upper and middle class residents) left for other areas, out of Qassam rocket range. Russian billionaire [[Arcadi Gaydamak]] organised a series of relief programs for residents unable to leave.<ref name="jpost-leavetown" />
On December 12, 2007, after more than 20 rockets landed in the Sderot area in a single day, including a direct hit to one of the main avenues, Sderot mayor Eli Moyal announced his resignation, citing the government's failure to halt the rocket attacks.<ref name="bbc1" /> Moyal was persuaded to retract his resignation.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

In a gesture of solidarity, [[El Al]] (Israel's national airline) named one of its [[Boeing 777]] passenger planes ''Sderot'' (4X-ECE).<ref name="infolive" />

In January 2008, the [[Jewish Community Relations Council]] of New York organized a display of 4,200 red balloons outside the [[headquarters of the United Nations]].<ref name="Ynet" /> Each balloon represented a Qassam rocket that had been fired into Sderot,<ref name="Haaretz" /> where for years the town and its surrounding area have been under near-constant bombardment by thousands of rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza.<ref name="JPost" /> Consul [[David Saranga]], who conceptualized the display, said he used the balloons as an opportunity to call upon the international community to stop ignoring what's happening in Israel.<ref name="JC" /> The balloon display made headlines in New York City papers as well as international publications.<ref name="test" />

In January 2008, British journalist Seth Freedman of ''[[The Guardian]]'' described Sderot as a city of near-deserted streets and empty malls and cafes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jan/18/sderotbeseigedandabandoned|title=Sderot: {{sic|besei|ged|nolink=y}} and abandoned|first=Seth|last=Freedman|newspaper=The Guardian |date=January 18, 2008|access-date=August 18, 2019|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> In March 2008, the mayor said that the population had dropped by 10–15%, while aid organizations said the figure was closer to 25%. Many of the families that remained were those who could not afford to move out or were unable to sell their homes.<ref name="ynet-sderot1"/> Studies found that air raid sirens and explosions have caused severe psychological trauma in some residents.<ref name="haaretz-sharfman" /> According to a study carried out at [[Sapir Academic College]] in 2007, some 75% of residents aged 4–18 were suffering from [[PTSD]], including sleeping disorders and severe anxiety, in the wake of rocket attacks on the city, and 1,000 residents were receiving psychiatric treatment at the community mental health center.<ref name="natal" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/76438/israel-opt-relentless-rocket-attacks-take-psychological-toll-on-children-in-sderot#sthash.MEKDqNXC.dpuf|title=IRIN Middle East - ISRAEL-OPT: Relentless rocket attacks take psychological toll on children in Sderot - Israel - OPT - Children - Conflict - Health & Nutrition|work=IRINnews|date=2008-01-27}}</ref> From mid-June 2007 to mid-February 2008, 771 rockets and 857 mortar bombs were fired at Sderot and the western Negev, an average of three or four each a day.<ref name="zionism-israel"/>

During the [[Gaza War (2008–09)|Gaza War]] in December 2008 and January 2009, between 50 and 60 rockets were fired at Sderot per week, causing about half the city's residents to temporarily evacuate. The war ended regular rocket fire from Gaza and the city experienced a revitalization. By 2009, demand for apartments was outweighing supply, a new sports complex largely funded by donor aid had opened, a new shopping mall was being built, and the assistance that the city had received due to concern over the years of rocket fire meant that Sderot now had better community, educational, and recreational services than many other Negev [[development town]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2009/1231/In-Israel-embattled-Sderot-comes-back-to-life-after-rocket-barrages-of-Gaza-war |title = In Israel, embattled Sderot comes back to life after rocket barrages of Gaza war|journal = Christian Science Monitor|date = 2009-12-31}}</ref> The city sustained rocket fire on occasion over the following years, including during [[2014 Israel-Gaza conflict|Operation Protective Edge]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-rocket-battered-sderot-waiting-for-the-next-war/ | title=In rocket-battered Sderot, waiting for the next war| website=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref>

In 2010, after a decline in charitable donations, the municipality revealed that it was on the verge of bankruptcy.<ref name="haaretz2010" />

[[File:Sderot in Independence Day 2019 IZE-281.jpg|thumb|[[Israel Defense Forces]] exhibition in Sderot, 2019]]

In 2011, a Sderot resident filed a million dollar lawsuit against two Canadian organizations raising funds for a Canadian ship to join the [[Gaza flotilla]]. According to the lawyers, "The Canadian Boat's raison d'être is to aid and abet the terrorist organization that rules Gaza." The suit alleges that these actions violate Canadian laws that prohibit aid to terror groups.<ref name="jpost-friedman" />

{{Anchor|Sderot cinema}}"Sderot cinema" is a name given to gatherings at a hill in Sderot, where over 50 locals would come to watch the bombing of the [[Gaza strip]] during the last four wars.<ref name="McKernan">{{cite web |quote=On a panoramic ridge facing west on the edge of town, home to a nursery school, Sderot's residents used to gather during the four previous wars between Israel and Hamas since the group seized control of the strip in 2007. They had cheered and whistled as the bombs rained down on Gaza's trapped civilians, sipping beers and settling in as though watching a fireworks display as the conflicts unfolded less than a mile away in Beit Hanoun, a town in the strip’s north-east corner during the [[2014 Israel–Gaza conflict]]. |first1=Bethan |last1=McKernan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/04/four-weeks-on-horror-lingers-in-israels-silent-kibbutzim |title=Four weeks on, horror lingers in Israel's silent kibbutzim |work= [[The Guardian]] |date=2023-11-04 |accessdate=2023-11-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/13/israel-sderot-gaza_n_5582032.html|title=These Israelis Eat Popcorn At 'Sderot Cinema' As They Watch Bombs Fall On Gaza|work=The Huffington Post UK|date=2014-07-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/locals-cheer-bombing-from-sderot-cinema-as-israel-steps-up-attacks-on-hamas-in-gaza-strip/story-fnh81ifq-1226988013066|title=Popcorn at front-row seats of war|date=13 July 2014|work=NewsComAu}}</ref> The name was coined by a Danish journalist who snapped a photo of it and posted it on [[Twitter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/digital/2014/07/12/Picture-purporting-to-show-Israelis-cheering-missile-Gaza-strikes-goes-viral.html|title=Al Aravya: 'Sderot cinema:' Israelis watch latest from Gaza|work=alarabiya.net|date=12 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/2014-07-11/when-bombs-receive-applause|title=When bombs receive applause|work=Kristeligt Dagblad|date=2014-07-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Twitter-photo-showing-Israelis-cheering-Gaza-bombing-goes-viral-362474|title=Twitter photo showing Israelis 'cheering' Gaza bombing goes viral|work=The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com|date=July 12, 2014 }}</ref> Similar events happened in [[Operation Cast Lead]] in 2009,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/middleeast/israelis-watch-bombs-drop-on-gaza-from-front-row-seats.html?_r=0 ''Israelis Watch Bombs Drop on Gaza From Front-Row Seats'']. New York Times, 14 July 2014</ref> after which some critics decided to refer to the hill as "Hill of Shame".<ref name="McKernan" /><ref>[http://www.miftah.org/display.cfm?DocId=18589&CategoryId=5 ''Hill of Shame where Gaza bombing is spectator sport'']. Martin Fletcher and Yonit Farago, [[The Times]], 13 January 2009</ref> Sderot residents have complained about the media portrayal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israelis-gather-hill-watch-gaza-strip-670043702|title=Viewers at 'Sderot cinema' complain over media portrayal|work=Middle East Eye}}</ref> 

In May 2019, the [[Israeli Air Force]] held a special [[flypast]] (aerial display) over Sderot (in addition to [[Yom Ha'atzmaut]] flypast), in order to salute the residents of Sderot who suffer continuously from [[Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel]].

On October 7, 2023, [[Hamas]] gunmen [[Battle of Sderot|attacked Sderot]], engaging in firefights with Israeli police and civilians in the streets and occupying the town's police station.<ref>">{{Cite news |date=7 October 2023 |work=Trend News Agency |title=Armed group from Gaza seizes police station in Israel's Sderot |url=https://en.trend.az/world/israel/3808401.html |access-date=7 October 2023 }}</ref> About eighteen members of the Israeli police were killed during the fighting.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Zitun |first1=Yoav |last2=Curiel |first2=Ilana |last3=Ben Kimon |first3=Elisha |last4=Turgeman |first4=Meir |last5=Moskovitz |first5=Israel |last6=Green Shaulov |first6=Roni |date=2023-10-07 |title=Commanders, soldiers, police officers: The names of the heroes who died defending Israel |language=en |work=Ynetnews |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1rxsrj11a |access-date=2023-10-19}}</ref> Fighting continued through the night until security forces retook the police station, which was demolished in case more terrorists remained inside. Early estimates stated that at least 20 civilians were killed as they were waiting at bus stops, walking down the street, and driving in their cars.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cardia |first1=Alexander |last2=Khavin |first2=Dmitriy |last3=Blumenfeld |first3=David |date=2023-10-10 |title=Video: 'Everyone Died': How Gunmen Killed Dozens In Sderot |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000009124862/palestinian-gunmen-killing-sderot.html |access-date=2023-10-19 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>  Of the 36,000 residents of the city, 90% were evacuated during the days after the massacre.<ref name="Reborn">{{cite news |last1=Keinon |first1=Herb |title=Paradigms will need to shift for Sderot to be reborn - analysis |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-768509 |access-date=19 October 2023 |publisher=The Jerusalem Post |date=15 October 2023}}</ref>