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Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
2009ינואר ב1
Summary of rocket fire and mortar shelling in 2008
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Ashdod
Ashkelon
Kiryat Gat
Beersheba
2
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1. The year 2008 saw the peak of rocket use by Hamas and the other terrorist organizations
operating in the Gaza Strip. Last year, the terrorist organizations managed to significantly
increase the scope of rocket attacks. They gradually put nearly one million Israeli
civilians living in the south (about 15 percent of the entire population) within the
range of the rockets, and posed a security challenge to Israel, prompting it to launch
Operation Cast Lead.
2. Rocket fire and mortar shelling first started in 2001, gradually becoming the major threat
posed by the Palestinian terrorist organizations, which consider it an asymmetrical, simple,
cheap, and reliable solution to Israel’s military superiority. The rockets, while still having their
share of problems and shortcomings, in the terrorists’ view, allow them to disrupt the lives of
Israeli civilians within the range of fire, destabilize their social fabric, override the security
fence built by Israel along the Gaza Strip, and create a kind of balance of terror that makes it
difficult for Israel’s security forces to conduct counter-activities and reflects the terrorist policy
of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
3. Following are three major characteristics of the use made by Hamas and the other terrorist
organizations of rockets during 2008 (see chapter on statistical data for details):
a. A dramatic increase in the extent of rocket fire and mortar shelling despite
the six months long lull in the fighting: in 2008, the peak year of rocket fire and
mortar shelling, a total of 3,278 rockets and mortar shells landed in Israeli territory
(1,750 rockets and 1,528 mortar shells). That is a significant increase compared to
2007 (the number of landings in 2008 more than doubled) and compared to the
previous years of the Palestinian terrorist campaign.
b. A significant increase in the number of Israeli residents exposed to rocket
fire within 40 km of the Gaza Strip: before 2008, the city of Sderot (about 20,000
residents) as well as villages around the Gaza Strip were the preferred target of rocket
fire and mortar shelling. In 2008, other cities and hundreds of thousands of Israelis
gradually entered the circle of fire: first the cities of Ashkelon and Netivot, and later,
during Operation Cast Lead, Ashdod, Beersheba, and other cities within a range of
40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. The rocket attacks created a new reality in which
nearly one million Israeli residents (about 15 percent of the entire
3
population) are exposed to rocket fire and mortar shelling in various levels of
intensity.
c. A significant improvement in the effectiveness of rockets and mortar shells
possessed by Hamas and an increase in their quantity: in 2008, Hamas put into
use 122-mm Grad launchers (for ranges of 20.4 km and approximately 40
km) and standard 120-mm mortars, which were smuggled into the Gaza Strip (in
our assessment, from Iran). Those standard rockets and mortars, significantly different
from self-manufactured rockets and mortars, not only increased the range of fire but
also increased its effectiveness. That is a result of increasing the rockets’
warhead size and their fragmentation. As for the mortars—the standard 120-mm
mortars are more precise and their range is greater than that of the other mortars
possessed by Hamas and the other terrorist organizations.
4. The quantity of rockets held by Hamas and the other terrorist organizations has also
increased, currently reaching, in our assessment, a constant supply of several hundred self-
manufactured 90 and 115-mm rockets and an unknown quantity of self-manufactured
long-range rockets capable of attaining greater ranges (up to 19 km). Also, we assess
that Hamas has dozens of standard long-range Grad rockets (122-mm) with a range of
20.4 km and a range of approximately 40 km, smuggled into the Gaza Strip through the
tunnels in the Rafah region, some during the lull in the fighting.
5. As a result of the rocket and mortar shell fire, eight people were killed in 2008, four of
them during Operation Cast Lead.1 During that operation, 58 people were injured as a result
of rocket and mortar fire, 10 of them moderately and severely (as at December 31, 2008).
Also, several dozen civilians were injured as a result of the rocket fire in 2008 (prior to
Operation Cast Lead), and several hundreds suffered stress-related traumas. The number of
fatalities, injuries, and stress-related traumas in 2008 is added to the number of casualties in
the previous years of the confrontation (2001-2007): 10 civilians were killed, 434 were
wounded, and thousands of civilians suffered from anxiety, shock, and various traumas as
a result of the fire. The continuing fire of rockets and mortar shells has a severe, cumulative
psychological effect on the population, causing severe damage to its social structure and
severe damage to its feeling of safety. The fire also disrupts the efforts to promote a peace
agreement between Israel and the Palestinians (the Annapolis process) by creating a lasting
1 In 2008, 21 people were killed as a result of terrorist attacks originating in the Gaza Strip, out of 31 killed as a result of terrorist attacks during that year (Summary of 2008 by the Israel Security Agency).
4
reality of rocket fire and counter-measures by Israel, which reached their peak in Operation
Cast Lead.
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6. What follows is a summary of statistical data in various spreads about the rocket fire and
mortar shelling in 2008 compared to previous years:
a. Rocket fire chart in yearly distribution, 2000-2008
b. Mortar shelling chart in 2000-2008
c. Rocket fire chart in monthly distribution in 2008
d. Mortar shelling in monthly distribution in 2008
e. Rocket fire and mortar shelling during the lull in the fighting
f. Rocket fire and mortar shelling during Operation Cast Lead (as at December 31)
g. New Grad rockets and mortars which became operational in 2008:
1.122-mm Grad rockets for a range of 20.4 km 2.122-mm Grad rockets for ranges of approximately 40 km 3.120-mm mortars
h. The number of Israeli residents in the main cities of south Israel (the Negev)
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7. To complete the data and analysis in this document, one can draw upon four fundamental papers written by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in 2008:
a. Rocket threat from the Gaza Strip, 2000-2007 (December 2007)
b. Hamas’s military buildup in the Gaza Strip (Updated April 2008)
c. Anti-Israeli Terrorism in 2007 and its Trends in 2008 (May 2008)
d. The Six Months of the Lull Arrangement (December 2008)
5
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0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
245 257 265
876
238
22
640
1528
1730
783
946
179281
155354
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Total: 4,040 mortar shells
Total: 4,048 rockets
6
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361
125
1181
87
149145
196
257241
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.
241
68
1338
158
206
373
103
228
136
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Total: 1,665 rockets June 19, the beginning of the
lull in the fighting
June 19, the beginning of the lull of the fighting
Total: 1,497 mortar shells
7
Jan. Fe
b. Mar.
Apr. May
Jun.
1-18
Jun.
18-3
0 Jul.
Aug. Se
p. Oct. Nov.
Dec.
241
681338
384149145196257
241
361
125118
45153206373103
228136
0
200
400
Rockets
Mortar shells
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A total of 223 rockets and 139 mortar shells were fired during the lull in the fighting, including 203 rockets and 121 mortar shells between November 4 and December 19. In total, 362 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel during the lull in the fighting.
8
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Note: the chart includes the fire incidents as of June 19, the beginning of the lull in the fighting. The chart includes 3 rockets and 5 mortar shells which landed in the Gaza Strip.
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56789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
16
46
03
1
7
010113
00
85
357
17
2102
0
13
4335
01310
20101110111
15
01222
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Rockets
Mortar shells
Total: 125 rockets and 68 mortar shells
0
2
3
1
3
88
44
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
June July August September October
Rockets
Mortar shells
Total: 20 rocket landings (3 of which in the Gaza Strip) and 18 mortar shells (5 of which in the Gaza Strip)
9
4342
57
14
61
25
30
63
101077
18
811100110
725
1
12
240
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1.12
2.12
3.12
4.12
5.12
6.12
7.12
8.12
9.12
10.1
11.1
12.1
13.1
14.1
15.1
16.1
17.1
18.1
19.1
20.1
21.1
22.1
23.1
24.1
25.1
26.1
27.1
28.1
29.1
30.1
31.1
Rockets
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2
1613
14 5 4
0 0 03
1 1 20 0
6
1
6
18
0 1
8
30
14
10
33
1615
6
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1.12
2.12
3.12
4.12
5.12
6.12
7.12
8.12
9.12
10.1
11.1
12.1
13.1
14.1
15.1
16.1
17.1
18.1
19.1
20.1
21.1
22.1
23.1
24.1
25.1
26.1
27.1
28.1
29.1
30.1
31.1
Mortar shells
Total: 241 mortar shells in December 2008
Total: 361 rockets
The end of the lull of the fighting according to Hamas’s announcement
The end of the lull in the fighting according to Hamas’s announcement.
10
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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
27.12 28.12 29.12 30.12 31.12
61
14
57
42 4333
16 15
6
25רקטות
פצצות מרגמה
Total: 217 rocket landings and 95 mortar shell hits during Operation Cast Lead
Rockets
Mortar shells
11
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IIImmmppprrrooovvveeeddd 111222222---mmmmmm GGGrrraaaddd
Improved Grad rocket
Diameter—122 mm
Maximum range—20.4 km
Warhead weight—66 kg
Manufacturer—China, Iran, Russia, Bulgaria
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Diameter—122 mm
Maximum range—40 km
Warhead weight—18-22 kg
Number of ball bearings—3,000-5,700
Manufacturer—China
The remains of the rocket identified by the Israeli police, which landed near Gan Yavne, northeast of Ashdod (December 28)
111222000---mmmmmm mmmooorrrtttaaarrr ssshhheeellllll
12
120-mm standard Iranian-made mortar shell (a replica of an
Israel Military Industries mortar shell from the 1970s supplied to
Iran). The bomb is equipped with an auxiliary rocket engine
which increases its range from six to ten kilometers.
Note: on February 24, 2008, such mortar shell was fired and
landed near Kibbutz Saad. On June 5, a 120-mm mortar shell hit
the Nirlat paint factory in Kibbutz Nir Oz, killing Amnon Rosenberg,
51, from Kibbutz Nirim, and injuring four other people, two of
them moderately. In addition, 120-mm mortar shells were fired in
some other incidents.
Large Israeli cities exposed to rocket fire
Number of residents2 City
208,900 Ashdod
186,800 Beersheba
110,000 Ashkelon
47,900 Kiryat Gat
43,300 Rahat
32,300 Yavne
26,100 Netivot
24,700 Ofakim
19,700 Kiryat Malachi
19,400 Sderot
2 According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, as of September 2008.
