Ashkelon , Israel ( CNN ) -- The rockets come mostly in the morning , the men say , but many of the people of the town of Ashkelon are always afraid . `` We ca n't go on like this , '' Mayor Benny Vaknin said . `` We have 131,000 people here and 26,000 children . They are constantly under threat . '' Rafel Moshe , who was playing backgammon at a pizza place downtown , echoed the mayor 's thoughts . `` They do n't want peace , '' said Moshe , speaking of the people in Gaza . `` How would you feel if your children were constantly scared ? '' Ashkelon , about 15 kilometers from Gaza , has suffered nearly two dozen rocket attacks since the back-and-forth firing of missiles and rockets between the Israeli military and militants in Gaza began Wednesday . Fear , celebration in Gaza City . Vaknin said 20 rockets were launched at Ashkelon in the past 24 hours . The city has an air defense system , the Iron Dome , which is designed to shoot down incoming rockets . At Porto Pizza , the backgammon players said the worst attacks were in the morning , but as a CNN crew found , the rockets could come at any time . Just before 1 a.m the air-raid sirens went off and then there was a noise just a few kilometers away that sounded like an impact from a rocket . No injuries were reported . The city 's residents have experience dealing with how to quickly move to air raid shelters and some , like Moshe , have a `` Red Alert '' app for their smart phones that tracks rocket attacks . Israeli warplanes could be heard in the sky and , farther in the distance , the sound of shelling . It was unclear if it was outgoing rockets from Gaza or bombs being dropped . Another group of four jets flew over the city a few hours later as the crew was filing a report . What 's behind the conflict . `` We do n't want war but there are people all the time shooting at Israel and we are quiet -- we stay quiet -- and the world does n't see the truth , '' Moshe said .
Israeli town 9 km from Gaza has had 20 rockets fired at it . Gaza : Gazans do n't want peace . The attacks are more often in the morning , men at the shop windows .