Palestinian Rocket Attacks on Israel in 2015

Operation Protective Edge, the summer 2014 conflict between Israel and Gaza-based terrorist organizations, was followed by a substantial decline in rocket fire. The Shin Bet recorded 44 attacks of all types originating in Gaza during 2015, compared with 121 in 2014 when combat incidents during Protective Edge were excluded.[1]

Hamas retained governing authority in Gaza and was held responsible by Israel for fire from territory under its control. However, the Shin Bet assessed that most 2015 rocket fire was carried out by dissident Salafist organizations, including groups associated with ISIS, while Hamas followed a policy of maintaining calm.[1][2] Hamas security forces reportedly arrested suspected launchers on several occasions, although the Shin Bet described a pattern in which some were later released with warnings.

The defining organizational feature of 2015 was the role played by small ISIS-inspired or ISIS-affiliated Salafist networks rather than the main established factions. The U.S. terrorism report identified the Omar Hadid-Bayt Almaqdis Brigades, a Gaza-based Salafist organization inspired by ISIL, as responsible for most Gaza-based rocket and mortar attacks that year. It also recorded that Al-Sabirin claimed responsibility for rocket launches.[3]

The Shin Bet similarly assessed that most Gaza rocket fire was carried out by rogue Salafist organizations while Hamas sought to maintain relative calm.[2] Palestinian Islamic Jihad was blamed by Palestinian and Israeli media for the May 26 rocket near Gan Yavne amid an internal organizational dispute.[4] The IDF also claimed that PIJ operatives in Syria fired four rockets toward the Golan Heights and Upper Galilee in August.[5]

Responsibility for individual incidents was often based on statements issued by the organizations or assessments by Israeli authorities rather than independent verification. The IDF consistently maintained that Hamas bore responsibility for all fire from territory under its rule, regardless of the organization that carried out a launch.[6]

The first confirmed rocket hit in Israeli territory in 2015 came on April 23, Israel's Independence Day.[7][8] Two rockets were fired from Gaza: one fell in an open area in the western Negev and the other fell inside Gaza. No casualties or damage were reported, and the firing organization was not conclusively identified. The IDF shelled a base in Gaza in response, also without reported casualties.[8]

On May 26 at 21:45, a rocket fired from Gaza landed near Gan Yavne, east of Ashdod, without causing casualties or damage.[4] Early reports referred to four or five possible launches, but Channel 1 later retracted its report that three rockets had landed in Israel, and the IDF confirmed one impact near Gan Yavne.[9] Palestinian and Israeli media attributed the firing to Palestinian Islamic Jihad amid an internal dispute. Israeli aircraft struck four targets in southern Gaza, and Hamas security forces reportedly detained PIJ suspects.[4]

On June 3, two rockets were fired toward southern Israel, with impacts reported near the Gaza Strip and in the Ashkelon region. Another attack followed on June 6; contemporary accounts differ over whether one or two rockets were involved, but they agree that the projectiles landed in open areas without causing casualties or significant damage.[8][10] The Omar Brigades, a small Salafist group associated with the Islamic State, claimed the attacks. Its statement described the fire as part of its jihad against Jews and said the organization would not be deterred.[11] Israeli aircraft struck what the IDF described as terrorist infrastructure after the attacks.[10]

On June 11, a rocket aimed at Ashkelon fell inside Gaza without causing casualties or damage. The Company of Sheikh Omar Hadid–Bayt al-Maqdis claimed responsibility and linked the attack to a Palestinian killed in Jenin and to Palestinian prisoners.[12] On June 23, a rocket launched from northern Gaza landed in an open area near Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, causing no injuries or damage. Israeli aircraft struck the launcher later that night.[6]

In July, a separate attack came from the Sinai Peninsula rather than Gaza. The Shin Bet recorded one attack involving three rocket launches toward the Hevel Shalom region; one rocket fell within Sinai, and no casualties or damage were reported.[1]

On July 16, a rocket hit an open area in the western Negev near Ashkelon, causing no casualties or damage.[13] The Company of Sheikh Omar Hadid–Bayt al-Maqdis claimed that it had fired two rockets in response to Israeli actions in Jerusalem and Israeli aircraft activity in Sinai. The cited report did not establish the outcome of the claimed second rocket. Israeli aircraft attacked sites in Gaza afterward.[13]

The Jewish Virtual Library chronology records two rockets attributed to Hamas on August 1, both landing in unpopulated areas near the border.[8] On August 7, three rockets were reportedly fired by jihadist groups; two fell inside Gaza and one reached Israeli territory near the security fence north of Kissufim. No casualties or damage were reported.[8][14]

On August 27, another rocket struck Israeli territory. The Israeli military attacked the launch position and a Hamas weapons factory in response, with no injuries reported from either the rocket or the strikes.[8]

On the night of September 15, several rockets were launched from central Gaza. One hit a house in Deir al-Balah and the others fell in open areas inside Gaza, with no casualties reported.[15] On September 17, a rocket impact was identified near Sderot, damaging a vehicle but causing no casualties; no organization claimed responsibility.[15]

On September 18, two launches from northern Gaza were identified. One rocket struck the front yard of a Sderot home, damaging the house and a nearby bus and causing several people to be treated for shock. A second rocket aimed at Ashkelon was intercepted by Iron Dome.[15][16] The Company of Sheikh Omar Hadid–Bayt al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for the Ashkelon rocket, and Israeli aircraft subsequently struck three Hamas facilities in northern Gaza.[15]

On September 29–30, a rocket fired toward Ashdod was intercepted above Kibbutz Nitzanim, between Ashkelon and Ashdod. Sirens sounded in Ashdod, Hof Ashkelon, Yavne, and the Lachish region, and no damage was reported.[16] A network identified as the Amr Hadad Brigade or Company of Sheikh Omar Hadid claimed responsibility. The Israeli Air Force struck four Hamas targets in Gaza afterward.[16][17]

October was the most active month of the year, with U.S. and Israeli-derived accounts recording a peak of seven launches.[3][18] On October 4, one rocket hit an open area in the western Negev and another fell inside Gaza, causing no casualties or damage.[17] On October 10, Iron Dome intercepted a rocket launched from Gaza. Israeli airstrikes followed this and preceding attacks; the Jewish Virtual Library chronology reports that a pregnant Palestinian woman and her three-year-old daughter were killed and other family members were injured.[8]

A rocket fell in an open area in the western Negev on October 11 without causing casualties or damage.[19] The Jewish Virtual Library chronology also records rockets on October 21 and October 26.[8] The October 26 rocket fell in the western Negev without causing casualties or damage. The Companies of Sheikh Omar Hadid claimed responsibility, and Israeli aircraft struck two Hamas installations in southern Gaza.[20]

On November 9, a rocket landed in a field in southern Israel, and Israeli aircraft struck Hamas positions in response. No casualties were reported.[8] On November 17, a rocket hit Israeli territory near the Gaza border wall without triggering alert sirens or causing reported injuries or damage. Israeli aircraft subsequently attacked two targets in northern and central Gaza.[21]

Two rockets fired toward Israel on November 20 fell inside Gaza. On November 23, another rocket hit an open area in the western Negev without causing casualties or damage or triggering sirens. Israeli aircraft struck a Hamas military facility in central Gaza afterward.[21] The Salafist-affiliated network Descendants of the Companions of the Prophet claimed responsibility for the November 17 and November 23 hits.[21]

On December 13, a rocket landed in an open area in Sha'ar HaNegev after triggering sirens in southern Israel. No casualties were reported, and Israeli aircraft struck Hamas targets in Gaza.[22] On December 17, another rocket triggered sirens but fell inside Gaza near the northern border fence. Al-Sabirin claimed responsibility, and the IDF struck two sites.[22]

Several rocket attacks in 2015 originated outside the Gaza Strip and should not be conflated with Gaza-launched Palestinian rocket fire.

Sources differ on the result of the July Sinai attack. An ITIC annual-chart footnote counted three rockets that hit Israeli territory after being launched from Sinai, while the Shin Bet recorded three launches toward Hevel Shalom and stated that one rocket fell within Sinai itself.[23][1] Both sources treated the incident separately from Gaza-originating attacks.

In August, the IDF claimed that Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in Syria fired four rockets toward the Golan Heights and Upper Galilee. The State Department account does not provide exact dates, impact locations, casualties, or damage.[5]

In December, the PFLP-General Command took responsibility for at least three rockets fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel and landing near Shlomi.[5] This was a cross-border attack originating in Lebanon rather than Gaza.

Israel frequently responded to rocket fire with airstrikes against targets described as Hamas military infrastructure, weapons facilities, or launch positions. The IDF directed such strikes at Hamas facilities even when a smaller Salafist network claimed the launch, reflecting Israel's position that Hamas bore responsibility for fire from territory under its control.[6]

After the May 26 rocket, Israeli aircraft struck four targets in southern Gaza.[4] Three Hamas facilities were attacked following the September Sderot and Ashkelon incidents, and two Hamas installations were struck after the October 26 rocket.[15][20] Other responses targeted launch positions, including the launcher used in the June 23 attack.[6]

Iron Dome intercepted rockets over the Ashkelon area in September, above Kibbutz Nitzanim on September 29–30, and again during October.[15][16] The Jewish Virtual Library chronology records an additional October 10 interception.[8]

The Shin Bet described 2015 as the quietest year from Gaza since Israel's 2005 disengagement and reported that the 44 Gaza-originating attacks of all types caused no casualties.[1][2] The decline reflected Hamas's policy of maintaining relative calm as well as the absence of the large salvos that had characterized Operation Protective Edge.

The reduced volume of fire did not eliminate the threat to Israeli communities. Rockets reached areas near Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gan Yavne, Sderot, and western Negev communities. The September Sderot strike damaged property and caused residents to be treated for shock; a later ynet account identified the September 2015 incident as the previous direct rocket hit on an Israeli community before another Sderot strike in July 2016.[24][16]

The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs argued that Hamas's leadership was refraining from massive rocket fire while smaller organizations continued limited attacks.[25] This combination of Hamas restraint, launches by rogue factions, and Israeli retaliation against Hamas facilities shaped the security environment during the year.

Published totals for 2015 differ because sources counted different units: discrete attacks, individual launches, rockets reaching Israeli territory, or rockets and mortar shells combined.

The Shin Bet counted 25 rocket-fire attacks from Gaza involving 26 individual launches, as part of 44 attacks of all types originating in the Gaza Strip.[1] It explained that a salvo of several rockets in one episode counted as one attack but multiple launches. The Shin Bet separately counted the July Sinai incident as one attack involving three launches.[1]

ITIC published two different figures. Its year-end report stated that 25 rockets fell in Israeli territory, while a later retrospective gave 24 identified hits.[26][27] ITIC excluded mortar fire and rockets that fell inside Gaza, and an annual-chart footnote treated the Sinai rockets separately.[23]

The U.S. Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 attributed 22 Gaza rocket attacks to the Israel Security Agency but also stated that Israel experienced 24 launches during the year, with a peak of seven in October.[3] The U.S. human-rights report attributed 22 rockets from Gaza and one from Sinai to ISA statistics.[28] A later U.S. report, citing the United Nations and the NGO Safety Organization, gave a lower figure of 15 rockets from Gaza.[29]

The Jewish Virtual Library's annual materials reported 24 rocket and mortar attacks and separately cited an ISA figure of 22 rocket attacks.[18] A Globes analysis counted 21 rockets and three mortar shells, for 24 Gaza projectiles.[30] A 2019 ynet article gave a combined figure of 27 rockets and mortar shells.[31] A mako analysis based on Home Front Command data reported 24 firing events.[32]

These figures are not directly interchangeable. The Shin Bet's 26 launches, the ITIC range of 24–25 hits, and the ISA-derived count of 22 attacks describe overlapping but different statistical categories.

The historical record contains both methodological differences and inconsistencies in dated incident chronologies. Annual figures range from 15 Gaza rockets in one later U.S. report to 27 rockets and mortar shells in a ynet retrospective.[29][31] Between those figures are counts of attacks, launches, impacts, projectiles, and firing events that cannot be combined without changing their meaning.

The dated chronologies also disagree on some details. The Jewish Virtual Library places the early June attack on June 2 and reports two rockets, while other approved-source accounts date it to June 3.[8][33] Accounts of the May 26 incident initially referred to four or five possible launches before the IDF confirmed one impact near Gan Yavne.[9]

Similar differences appear in the September and October entries, including whether dates refer to the launch, discovery of an impact, or publication of the report. The available sources therefore establish numerous individual incidents and several credible annual measures, but they do not provide a single reconciled, incident-by-incident chronology using one consistent counting method.