Operation Days of Penitence (2004)

In the years preceding the operation, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups expanded their use of Qassam rockets against nearby Israeli communities.[5][6] From the end of 2001 through October 2004, approximately 300 Qassam rockets were launched from Gaza into Israeli territory, with more than 70 landing in Sderot.[5] A Jerusalem Center legal paper cited annual figures of 281 Qassam rockets and 876 mortar shells fired from Gaza in 2004. It said the rockets targeted southern Israeli communities, while the shorter-range mortars were directed mainly at Israeli communities inside Gaza and at IDF positions.[7]

During July–October 2004, rocket fire caused four deaths in Sderot and left hundreds of residents suffering from shock-related conditions.[5] On September 29, a rocket attack killed two young children in Sderot, after which the Congressional Research Service reported that Israeli forces began a major northern Gaza offensive.[4] The Israeli Government identified the victims as four-year-old Yuval Abebeh and two-year-old Dorit (Masarat) Benisian, who were struck while playing in the street, and said Hamas claimed responsibility.[8] Before Days of Penitence, Israel had carried out smaller responses to rocket fire from Gaza rather than an operation on this scale.[2]

Sources differ on the operation's precise starting date. The U.S. State Department dated its launch to September 28, 2004.[1] The Congressional Research Service reported that rockets killed the two Sderot children on September 29 and that Israeli forces began the offensive afterward, while Mako gave September 30 as the starting date.[4][2] Israeli forces attacked targets in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and the Jabaliya refugee camp with ground forces, tanks, helicopters, and aircraft.[1][2] The IDF could focus on these relatively restricted launch areas because the limited range of Hamas rockets made northern Gaza's outskirts the principal threat zone.[9]

The IDF employed what was described as "bubble tactics," a coordinated ground-and-air method developed for fighting amid civilian populations. Ground troops located targets and sought to draw terrorists into engagements, while aircraft provided close support and attacked Qassam-launch teams and accompanying anti-tank teams. The operation was described as the first use of this approach.[2] During northern Gaza operations, cloth and nylon sheets were spread across streets in Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun to obstruct Israeli aerial observation.[9]

On October 7, which Ynet described as the ninth day of the operation, two Qassam rockets were fired toward Sderot. One landed on a road leading to the city and the other in a residential neighborhood, while Israeli activity remained concentrated in northern Gaza.[10] Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the operation would continue until Qassam fire stopped and Israel received guarantees that the attacks would cease.[10] He described its objectives as pushing rocket launchers beyond the range of Israeli communities and acting against commanders of terrorist organizations, weapons producers, those who dispatched attackers, and the attackers themselves. He also said the campaign was proceeding alongside preparations for the Gaza disengagement plan.[11]

Israeli forces left the area on October 17, with the IDF warning that it would return if rocket fire resumed.[2] Sources also differ on the operation's duration: the State Department's human-rights report described a 17-day operation, while its Country Reports on Terrorism called it a three-week campaign.[1][6]

Israeli casualty counts vary by source. Mako reported that two soldiers and a civilian woman from Elei Sinai were killed during the operation.[2] The State Department's terrorism report, citing press accounts, and the UN fact-finding report each gave a total of five Israelis killed.[6][3]

Palestinian death estimates also differ. The United Nations put the number killed at 107, while human-rights groups reported as many as 130 killed and more than 430 wounded.[1] A Globes commentary stated that Palestinians counted 133 deaths by the operation's end.[12] The UN fact-finding report used the broader figure of more than 100 Palestinians killed.[3]

Estimates of civilian deaths varied as well. B'Tselem estimated that approximately 50 of those killed were civilians, including at least 26 people under the age of 18, while the IDF estimated that 19 civilians were killed.[1] One Israeli account reported that 87 of the Palestinian dead were terrorists identified by name and characterized the remaining dead as apparently civilians, including children.[2]

At least ten Qassam-launch teams, each described as comprising approximately five members, were reported destroyed. Dozens of houses used by terrorist organizations as rocket stores, booby-trap positions, or firing points were also demolished. The same account reported that rocket fire stopped completely after the operation.[2]

During the operation, the IDF restricted entry into the Gaza Strip, preventing humanitarian agencies including UNRWA from delivering food and providing assistance.[1] On October 5, 2004, the United States vetoed draft United Nations Security Council resolution S/2004/783. The draft demanded an immediate cessation of military operations, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and unfettered access for UN personnel and humanitarian aid workers.[13] Washington characterized the resolution as "unbalanced."[4]

The operation generated significant international criticism. The EU presidency accused Israel of responding disproportionately to Qassam fire. A White House spokesman acknowledged Israel's right to defend itself but said it should consider the consequences of its decisions.[11] India's deputy foreign minister condemned what he called the "disproportionate and unwarranted use of force," expressed concern about civilian deaths, and urged a return to negotiations.[14]

Hamas later extended the range of its rockets so they could be launched from Gaza City, making it more difficult for Israel to concentrate military activity on particular northern launch areas as it had during Days of Penitence.[9]

In 2009, an Israeli Arab organization and two Palestinian human-rights organizations petitioned Israel's High Court of Justice for a criminal investigation into the 2004 Gaza campaigns, including Operation Days of Penitence. For this operation, the petitioners alleged that 91 homes had been destroyed, 101 others badly damaged, 833 people left homeless, and 27 children killed. These were the petitioners' claims, not findings established by the court.[15]

At the May 2009 hearing, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch characterized the request as a general inquiry into how a month-long military campaign was conducted rather than a complaint about a specific incident. She said that when a concrete complaint is filed with police and prosecutors, those bodies can and must investigate. The justices indicated that they would reject the petition, although no formal decision was handed down at the hearing.[15]

In its 2009 response to the UN fact-finding report, the Israeli Government argued that the report's account of Days of Penitence omitted the deaths of Yuval Abebeh and Dorit Benisian. It said the two children had been killed by a Kassam rocket while playing in a Sderot street and that Hamas had claimed responsibility.[8]

Several aspects of Operation Days of Penitence remain subject to differing accounts. The UN fact-finding report recorded more than 100 Palestinian and five Israeli deaths.[3] The State Department's human-rights report cited a UN Palestinian total of 107 and human-rights-group estimates of as many as 130, along with differing Israeli and independent estimates of civilian deaths.[1] A later Globes commentary gave a Palestinian count of 133.[12]

The operation's stated rationale—limiting Qassam rocket fire—has also received competing interpretations. A Washington Institute analysis argued that rockets alone did not produce the Israeli move and suggested that Sharon was also concerned with countering the impression that Israel was being forced to withdraw from Gaza.[16] This was the author's political analysis rather than a stated Israeli Government position.

A disputed incident on October 7 illustrated the difficulty of assessing individual events. Two 12-year-old children were killed near Jabaliya in an Israeli helicopter strike. Relatives said they had been playing with an empty pipe, while the IDF said pilots identified figures attempting to launch rockets and fired at them.[10] The conflicting accounts were not resolved in the contemporaneous report.