Israelis flock to apps as Gaza rocket alerts multiply
Thursday, 17 July 2014
The barrage of rocket fire from Gaza has not just triggered a rush for shelters, but has also sent Israelis scrambling to download applications to help cope with the frequent alerts. With nearly half a million downloads, the ‘Red Alert’ smart phone application has become an everyday essential for Israelis since the July 8 start of Israel’s military operation to stop Palestinian rocket fire brought a paradoxically sharp increase in attacks. Since then, militants have fired more than 1,200 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel, and Israel has bombed more than 1,750 targets inside the Gaza Strip, the army said on Wednesday. One Israeli has been killed and four seriously wounded. In Gaza, more than 220 Palestinians have been killed, according to medics. Red Alert is meant to complement other means of warning, alongside the air raid sirens in every Israeli city, town and village and the real time alerts broadcast on national radio channels. It gives people who are not close to a radio, or who are unable to hear a siren, an extra warning and allows people in one location to know what is happening to friends and family elsewhere in the country, according to AFP.