Most factories in Sderot and the western Neget are suffering from absenteeism since the flare-up of hostilities between Palestinian militants and Israel in the past few days, according to Yehuda Segev, general director of Israel's Manufacturers Association, the English-language newspaper Haaretz said.
"If there is no improvement in the security situation in the western Negev, the number of workers abandoning [their workplaces] will increase significantly at the beginning of next week, since additional workers and their families left Sderot this weekend to spend time somewhere safer," the paper quoted Segev as saying.
According to the paper, one of the rockets fired by the militants Thursday hit a high school, slightly injuring two people. More than 30 rockets landed in the western Negev Tuesday, wounding two people, Haaretz said.