Elderly woman succumbs to wounds sustained in Gaza rocket attack last year

74-year-old Nina Gisdenanova was severely wounded last November when her building sustained a direct hit.

By ANNA AHRONHEIM
ron Dome anti-missile system fires interception missiles as rockets are launched from Gaza towards Israel as seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel Ashkelon (photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
ron Dome anti-missile system fires interception missiles as rockets are launched from Gaza towards Israel as seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel Ashkelon
(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
A woman severely injured in a rocket attack last November in southern Israel has died from her wounds.
74-year-old Nina Gisdenanova from Ashkelon was severely wounded after her building sustained a direct hit from a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. She had been in a coma at Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer for 10 months.
The municipality of Ashkelon was quoted by Ynet news as expressing sorrow for her death, saying that “upon learning of her passing, teams are in contact with the family and providing them with the necessary assistance.”
Ashkelon mayor Tomer Glam was quoted as telling Gisdenanova’s son Igor that, “unfortunately, we lost another resident in the never ending war with terrorist organizations in Gaza. Hopefully she will be the last victim. The municipality will continue to help and provide the dear family with everything it needs at this difficult time.”
Gisdenanova was one of two civilians killed during the round of violence between Israel and terror groups in the Hamas-run coastal enclave, which broke out following a botched IDF intelligence raid in Khan Younis.
The barrages began after a Kornet anti-tank missile was fired toward a bus full of soldiers at the Black Arrow Memorial Site in the Sha’ar Hanegev region. A 19-year-old soldier was transferred to Soroka hospital in Beersheba in critical condition after he was hit standing near the bus.
Over 460 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israeli communities as well as the Dead Sea and the West Bank’s Hebron Hills.
A new type of rocket was fired by Islamic Jihad into Ashkelon.
Some 100 rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, the military said. While the majority of others fell in open territory without causing damage or injuries, another 20 or so fell in the cities of Ashkelon, Sderot, and several other border communities, causing severe damage and dozens of injuries.
According to Barzilay Medical Center, a total of 93 patients were treated for injuries sustained in the rocket barrages, including 44 people suffering from anxiety, 46 who had slight physical injuries, two with moderate injuries and one severely injured person who had been transferred to Tel Hashomer Medical Center.
Mahmoud Abu Asba, a 48-year-old man from Halhul, a town near Hebron in the West Bank was killed in Ashkelon after his apartment building sustained a direct hit by a rocket fired from Gaza. Two other women in the same building at the time of the impact were found by rescue services in critical condition.
Asba was the first civilian casualty from rockets fired from Gaza since Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.
In the year since his death, another five civilians have been killed in rocket barrages on southern Israel.
In July, 89-year-old Rivka Jamil passed away two months after she was seriously wounded while running to a bomb shelter in May during another round of Gazan-Israeli violence.
Jamil, a resident of Ashkelon, was one of five Israelis who lost their lives in the round of fighting which saw Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad launch close to 700 rockets towards Israel in the span of less than 48 hours.