"Taking Sderot as a case study, Kaplan and Zucker applied shrapnel/casualty and spatial allocation models to the population of the town to estimate casualties per randomly aimed rocket fired in the absence of civil defenses.

With civil defense measures in place, Sderot sustained 5,000 rockets between 2001 and 2010, and 90 percent of residents experienced a rocket landing on their street or on the one adjacent to theirs. But 10 residents were killed during this time, and less than 500 sustained injuries.

A Sderot lacking civil defenses, the researchers found, in "an intermediate daytime scenario, would result in 75 rather than 10 deaths in Sderot between 2001 and 2010," the researchers found.

"The results were very clear," Kaplan told the Post. "In the best case, there would be three times as many casualties as observed in Sderot. In the worst case, there would be nine times as many casualties. In the intermediate case – which we would argue best describes 'a day in the life of Sderot' – there would be seven times as many casualties.""