Strategic Assessment

For a number of years, the civilian population in the areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip has endured ongoing short range rocket (types of Qassam) and mortar attacks on a near daily basis.Since 2001, some 2,800 rockets have landed in the zone of communities near the Gaza Strip; of these, 950 landed in 2006 and 780 in 2007. Of all the rockets that landed in Israeli territory, half fell within the communities themselves. Within the city of Sderot, some 800 rockets have landed so far. Approximately 430 people have been injured by rocket fire (not counting victims of shock), and ten people – nine of them in Sderot – have been killed. In 2006, some 85 people were injured and two people were killed, and in 2007, about 100 were injured and two were killed. All who were killed were outside of a sheltered space at the time of their death (yard, porch, street, or car). To date, a small number of standard rockets (122 mm Grad) have been fired at Israel, aimed at targets that the Qassam cannot reach. Presumably when the stockpiles of these rockets held by Palestinian organizations in the Gaza Strip grow, their use will increase, and more communities in the 20 kilometer range from the Gaza Strip will also be at risk.