Residents in southern Israel try to resume normal life despite rockets

Several thousand Israelis living near the Gaza Strip began resuming normal life, leaving bomb shelters and sending children back to school on Thursday. Gaza militants fired more than 70 rockets at Israel's southern communities over the last three days, with concerned authorities shutting educational institutions on Wednesday, fearing bombs hitting a school. Late Wednesday, Palestinian and Israeli officials reportedly agreed to an Egyptian-brokered truce, with Israel promising not to hit militant targets in return for a cessation in rocket and mortar shell salvos. However, the lull was broken Thursday morning with few mortars being fired into Israel. No injuries or damages were reported. Despite the efforts of resuming daily lives, according to the Home Front Command orders, residents and students should stay within close proximity to shelters at all times. Nira Rosen, 36, from the community of Sha'ar Hanegev, told Xinhua on Thursday the recent barrage of rockets disrupted the birthday celebration of her son Uri, who is four years old. "It's hard to explain to a kid why things go wrong in his birthday, and why we have to be in a shelter all the time," she said. Ronen Galis, is a 25-year-old student at the Sapir College near Sderot, which re-opened on Thursday, also within vicinity of the Gaza Strip. "Like everything in life, you get used to everything and fast," he said. "I always look for a nearby shelter, no matter what, it's always in the back of my head." The current round of fighting deteriorated last week, after Israel carried out several airstrikes against Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, in retaliation to a barrage of 50 rockets. On Tuesday evening, an Israeli airstrike killed a Palestinian in northern Gaza, just hours after the Qatari Emir's visit to the enclave.