Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel

For information pertaining to the wider conflict, see Gaza–Israel conflict and Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Palestinian rocket attacks
on Israel
A rocket fired from a civilian area in Gaza towards civilian areas in Southern Israel
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip
into Israel, 2008
By year (list)
Groups responsible
Rocket types
Cities affected
Regional Council areas affected
Settlements affected (evacuated)
Defense and response
See also

Since 2001, Palestinian militants have launched tens of thousands[1][2][3][4] of rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip as part of the continuing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The attacks, widely condemned for targeting civilians, have been described as terrorism by the United Nations, the European Union, and Israeli officials, and are defined as war crimes by human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The international community considers indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets to be illegal under international law.[5][6] Palestinian militants say rocket attacks are a response to Israel's blockade of Gaza,[7][8][9] but the Palestinian Authority has condemned them and says rocket attacks undermine peace.[10]

From 2004 to 2014, these attacks have killed 27 Israeli civilians, 5 foreign nationals, 5 IDF soldiers, and at least 11 Palestinians[11] and injured more than 1,900 people.[12] Medical studies in Sderot, the Israeli city closest to the Gaza Strip, have documented a post-traumatic stress disorder incidence among young children of almost 50%, as well as high rates of depression and miscarriage.[13][14][15] A public opinion poll conducted in March 2013 found that a majority of Palestinians do not support firing rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip, with only 38% favoring their use.[16] Another poll conducted in September 2014 found that 80% of Palestinians support firing rockets against Israel, if it does not allow unfettered access to Gaza.[17] The rocket attacks have caused flight cancellations at Ben Gurion Airport.[18]

The weapons, often generically referred to as Qassams, were initially crude and short-range, mainly affecting Sderot and other communities bordering the Gaza Strip. In 2006, more sophisticated rockets began to be deployed, reaching the larger coastal city of Ashkelon, and by early 2009 major cities Ashdod and Beersheba had been hit by Katyusha, WS-1B[19] and Grad rockets.[20] In 2012, Jerusalem and Israel's commercial center Tel Aviv were targeted with locally made "M-75" and Iranian Fajr-5 rockets, respectively,[21] and in July 2014, the northern city of Haifa was targeted for the first time.[22] Several projectiles have contained white phosphorus. According to a Hamas militant, these shells are recycled from unexploded munitions used by Israel in bombing Gaza.[23][24][25][26][27]

Attacks have been carried out by all Palestinian armed groups,[28] and, prior to the 2008–2009 Gaza War, were consistently supported by most Palestinians,[29][30][31][32] although the stated goals have been mixed.

Israeli defenses constructed specifically to deal with the weapons include fortifications for schools and bus stops as well as an alarm system named Red Color. Iron Dome, a system to intercept short-range rockets, was developed by Israel and first deployed in the spring of 2011 to protect Beersheba and Ashkelon, but officials and experts warned that it would not be completely effective. Shortly thereafter, it intercepted a Palestinian Grad rocket for the first time.[33]

Range of missiles launched from Gaza Strip (10-160 km).

In the cycle of violence, rocket attacks alternate with Israeli military actions. From the outbreak of the Second Intifada (30 September 2000) through March 2013, 8,749 rockets and 5,047 mortar shells were fired on Israel,[34] while Israel has conducted several military operations in the Gaza Strip, among them Operation Rainbow (2004), Operation Days of Penitence (2004), Operation Summer Rains (2006), Operation Autumn Clouds (2006), Operation Hot Winter (2008), Operation Cast Lead (2009), Operation Pillar of Defense (2012), Operation Protective Edge (2014), Operation Guardian of the Walls (2021) and Operation Swords of Iron (2023).

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference PalyRocketCounter was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference HaaretzRocketFreeCounter was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference IsraelRocketFreeCounter was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference IDFGazaRocketsCount was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Gaza: Palestinian Rockets Unlawfully Targeted Israeli Civilians". hrw.org/news/. Human Rights Watch. 24 December 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Protection of the civilian population". Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977. International Committee of the Red Cross. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  7. ^ "Rockets from Gaza". Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have sought to justify the attacks as appropriate reprisals for Israeli military operations and the ongoing blockade against Gaza, and as a lawful response to the Israeli occupation of Gaza.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference mishal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC-QA-Gazaconflict was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference abbas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinians". B'Tselem. 24 July 2014. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  12. ^ evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza Retrieved 7 November 2023
  13. ^ Report: Missiles on Sderot increase miscarriages Archived 25 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Jerusalem Post 24 February 2013
  14. ^ Study: Half of Sderot's toddlers suffering from PTSD Archived 15 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Ynet News 30 June 2009
  15. ^ Israeli survey: Almost half of Sderot preteens show symptoms of PTSD Archived 2 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Haaretz 20 November 2012
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2013-poll was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ 80% of Palestinians Support Resumption of Rocket Fire Against Israel: New Poll Archived 4 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Algemeiner Journal 30 September 2014
  18. ^ "Rocket fire targets Tel Aviv airport as Air Canada flight due to land". thestar.com. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  19. ^ Shachtman, Noah (31 December 2008). "Hamas Fires Long-Range Chinese Rockets at Israel (Updated)". Wired. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  20. ^ "רקטות גראד נורו לדרום, לראשונה: גם לרמת הנגב". וואלה! חדשות. 28 October 2012. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  21. ^ Two rockets land outside J'lem; two fired at TA Archived 30 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Jerusalem Post 16 November 2012
  22. ^ "IDF examining whether missiles were fired at Haifa and area | JPost | Israel News". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com. JPost. Archived from the original on 11 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  23. ^ Ilana Curiel Phosphorus mortar shell detected in Negev Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Ynet 14 January 2009
  24. ^ Yanir Yagna, Eli Ashkenazi, Anshel Pfeffer Hamas Launches First Phosphorus Rocket at Negev; No Injuries Reported Archived 12 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine Haaretz 15 January 2009:'Palestinian militants fired a phosphorus rocket at Israel for the first time yesterday, one of 17 fired into Israel as fighting entered its 19th day. The phosphorus rocket exploded in an open field in the western Negev. No injuries or damage were reported.
  25. ^ Ali Waked 'We used phosphorus fired in Gaza war' Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Ynet 16 September 2010:' A member of the one of the Palestinian militant groups in Gaza admitted to Ynet on Thursday that the phosphorus used in the rockets fired on Israel Wednesday contained material gathered from shells Israel itself fired on Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. Still, the source said the groups' use of phosphorus shells was "an experiment" and that there are no plans to put it to mass use. "We don't have the kind of phosphorus the Israelis are talking about."
  26. ^ White phosphorus found in mortar shells fired from Gaza". Archived 14 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Ynet 1 January 2012.
  27. ^ Eshkol Council Head Files UN Complaint over Mortar Fire Archived 12 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine Jerusalem Post 16 September 2010.
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference ai was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference support was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference pcpsr2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference pcpsr2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Palestinian – Israeli Joint Press Release Archived 7 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, PSR – Survey Research Unit 24 March 2008
  33. ^ Iron Dome successfully intercepts Gaza rocket for first time Archived 13 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Haaretz 7 April 2011
  34. ^ "Rocket and mortar fire into Israel". B'Tselem. 24 July 2014 [1 January 2011]. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.