Damage caused by a rocket to a school in Ashkelon
www.sderotmedia.com, February 26, photo by Meital Ohayon
www.sderotmedia.com, February 26, photo by Noam Badin
courtesy of Ashkelon Municipality , February 28, 2009
Rocket fire and mortar shelling since the end of Operation Cast Lead
Monthly distribution of rocket and mortar attacks during the lull in the fighting
Damage caused by a rocket to a school in Ashkelon
(courtesy of Ashkelon Municipality , February 28, 2009)
Rocket and mortar shell attacks
1. In the past several days, 42 days after the completion of Operation Cast Lead, there has been a surge in the number of rockets fired at Israel . The peak was on Saturday, February 28, in which nine rocket hits were detected in Israeli territory, two of them of long-range rockets which landed in the city of Ashkelon . No terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attacks. All told, 53 rocket hits have been detected in Israeli territory since the end of Operation Cast Lead; also detected were 40 hits of mortar shells (fired mostly at IDF forces).
2. Following are the rocket attacks which have taken place in the last several days:
a. February 26 – three rockets landed in Israeli territory. Two of them were detected in the city of Sderot . One rocket hit a house and the other landed in an outdoor area near the industrial zone of the city. There were no casualties, but the house was damaged. In response, the Israeli Air Force attacked smuggling tunnels in the Rafah region.
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Sderot house hit by a rocket (www.sderotmedia.com, February 26, photo by Meital Ohayon) |
Police sapper holding one of the rockets fired at the house in Sderot (www.sderotmedia.com, February 26, photo by Noam Badin) |
b. February 27 – two rocket hits were detected in Israeli territory. There were no casualties and no damage was caused.
c February 28 – nine rocket hits were detected. Hits of two long-range rockets were detected in the city of Ashkelon . One rocket landed in a schoolyard (no students were in the school due to the Israeli holiday of the Sabbath). Heavy damage was caused to the building and rocket fragments penetrated into the classrooms. Seven people living nearby suffered stress-related trauma.
The rocket which landed in the schoolyard in Ashkelon
(courtesy of Ashkelon Municipality , February 28, 2009)
3. Findings on the ground show that most rockets fired at Ashkelon were improved 175-mm rockets with a maximum range of up to 18 km (reaching about 16 km in the latest series of attacks). It should be noted that during (and even before) Operation Cast Lead the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired similar rockets at Ashkelon .
Summary and assessment
4. Now that Operation Cast Lead is over, rockets and mortar shells are fired at Israel (Ashkelon, Sderot, and West Negev towns) and IDF forces operating near the border fence almost daily. In addition, other terrorist attacks (such as setting explosive charges, shooting, and anti-tank fire) have been perpetrated against IDF forces. A total of 53 rocket landings and 40 mortar shell hits were detected since the end of the operation. In response, the IDF has carried out air strikes on such targets as smuggling tunnels near Rafah, positions and bases of Hamas and other terrorist organizations, launching squads, and more.
Rocket fire and mortar shelling since the end of Operation Cast Lead (January 18, 2009)
5. About a month and a half after Operation Cast Lead, it can be said that the terrorist organizations have returned to the "routine" of systematic, almost daily rocket and mortar attacks at western Negev population centers. The extent of those attacks is still lower than the last two months of the lull in the fighting (November-December 2008) but much higher than the first four months (see chart). The Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, does not prevent, in our assessment, the continuation of the attacks and takes no effective measures to stop them, even though it has the means to do so.
Monthly distribution of rocket and mortar attacks during the lull in the fighting
