Palestinian Rocket Attacks on Israel in 2017

Rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip continued during 2017, with most of the increase concentrated near the end of the year. The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center recorded 22 Gaza-origin rocket hits in Israeli territory. Its broader total of 31 also included nine rockets fired from the Sinai Peninsula by ISIS's Sinai Province, which were separate from the Palestinian and Gaza-focused chronology.[1] The review excluded mortar fire and rockets that misfired and fell inside the Gaza Strip.[1]

IDF year-end figures counted 35 projectiles fired from Gaza at Israel during 2017, compared with 15 in 2016 and 21 in 2015. The IDF also reported striking 59 targets in Gaza in response to rocket and mortar attacks.[6] The Congressional Research Service cited the same 35-projectile figure and stated that most landed in open territory, while an estimated 10 struck residential areas or were intercepted by Iron Dome.[7] The U.S. Department of State reported numerous attacks from Gaza and Sinai, none of which caused Israeli fatalities.[3]

The Meir Amit review described its combined Gaza-and-Sinai total as a roughly 50 percent increase over 2016.[1] IDF figures indicated that most of the rise in Gaza fire occurred during the final two months of the year.[6] Most Gaza-origin rocket hits were attributed by the annual review to rogue Salafi-jihadi organizations rather than Hamas, although Israel held Hamas responsible for attacks originating from territory it governed.[1]

Sources produced markedly different totals because they counted different categories. Globes counted 22 rockets and 24 mortar shells from Gaza, for 46 projectiles.[8] Ynet reported 87 rockets and mortar shells.[9] Mako counted 46 rocket-and-mortar-fire events rather than individual projectiles.[10] From the end of Operation Protective Edge in August 2014 through the end of 2017, Globes counted 111 rockets and mortar shells launched from Gaza, causing no casualties and only minor property damage.[8]

On February 6, a rocket landed in an open area in the western Negev, in the Hof Ashkelon area, without causing casualties or damage.[11] The attack was assessed as probably having been carried out by a rogue organization acting against Hamas policy.[12] Israel responded with tank and aircraft strikes against six Hamas positions, including an observation post in Beit Lahia.[11][12]

The Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Defense Affairs presented the attack as part of deteriorating relations between Hamas and Islamic State-affiliated Salafi groups in Gaza. Its analysis argued that the groups sought to provoke Israeli retaliation against Hamas and thereby damage Hamas's improving relations with Egypt and its post-Operation Protective Edge ceasefire arrangements. Hamas had reportedly arrested approximately 350 Salafi operatives, some wanted by Egyptian authorities over suspected terrorist activity in Sinai.[13]

Before dawn on February 28, a rocket hit was identified in an open area near a western Negev community. No casualties or damage were reported, and the responsible organization was not identified. Israeli aircraft subsequently attacked five Hamas targets.[14] The Jewish Virtual Library dates the launch to February 27 and reports that four Hamas members were seriously injured in the Israeli response.[11]

On March 1, a rocket struck a field south of Ashkelon without causing injuries. Hamas had threatened retaliation for Israeli bombardment during this period, although the source did not identify Hamas as the launcher.[15] On March 10, a projectile launched from the Khan Younis area fell short and landed inside Gaza. The armed wing of a Fatah splinter group also claimed to have launched two rockets toward the Eshkol region, but both reportedly fell short of the border and caused no casualties or damage.[15]

On June 26, two rockets fired from Gaza landed in an open area near the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council without causing injuries. The Israeli Air Force responded by destroying two Hamas outposts, one in Gaza City and one in Rafah.[11]

On July 23, a rocket hit was identified in an open area in the western Negev, with no casualties or damage. Israeli aircraft subsequently attacked Hamas posts in the southern Gaza Strip.[16]

On August 8, a projectile fired from Gaza struck an open area in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council near Ashkelon after warning sirens sounded in nearby communities. No injuries, damage, or interception were reported. An initial report that the projectile had landed at a construction site in Ashkelon was not confirmed by Israeli authorities.[17] The Meir Amit Center also recorded the rocket landing near Ashkelon and an Israeli strike against a Hamas facility in response.[18] No Gaza organization claimed responsibility.[11]

Contemporaneous sources conflict over the October 8 launch. The Times of Israel reported that a rocket struck an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council, while the Jewish Virtual Library states that it fell inside Gaza. Both accounts report no injuries or damage.[19][11] No group immediately claimed responsibility. The IDF destroyed a Hamas watchtower in southern Gaza in response.[11]

On November 30, Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired approximately 10 to 12 mortars into Israel. No injuries were reported. The IDF subsequently used tank and artillery fire against four Hamas positions near Beit Hanoun and two Hamas targets in central Gaza.[11]

The year's most sustained escalation began after the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. On December 7, two rockets fired from Gaza landed in the sea, another struck an empty field in southern Israel, and an attempted launch fell short. The al-Tawheed Brigades claimed responsibility. The IDF attacked two Hamas positions, maintaining that Hamas was responsible for attacks originating from Gaza.[20]

On December 8, several rockets were fired from Gaza. One struck a Sderot parking lot and damaged cars, remnants of another were found in a kindergarten and damaged the building, and a third was intercepted by Iron Dome. The Brigades of the Unity of Allah claimed responsibility and described the attack as retaliation for the Jerusalem declaration. Israel attacked six Hamas military targets.[2] A Ynet report published after midnight said that two people suffered anxiety in the parking-lot explosion and that Israeli aircraft struck a Hamas training compound and weapons-storage facility.[4] The Times of Israel reported that two Hamas members were killed in strikes during the escalation.[21] Ynet also described an earlier pair of launches whose rockets apparently fell inside Gaza.[4]

On December 11, a rocket fired toward Ashkelon at approximately 11:30 p.m. was intercepted by Iron Dome. No injuries were reported, and Israeli aircraft and a tank subsequently struck Hamas sites in northern Gaza.[21] The Jewish Virtual Library records a second rocket that landed in the Eshkol region that day.[11]

On December 12, a rocket landed in an open field outside Netiv Ha'asara after sirens sounded in the Hof Ashkelon area. Another launch earlier that day fell short inside Gaza.[22] The Meir Amit Center included the incident in the wave of fire following the Jerusalem declaration.[5]

On December 13, four rockets were fired from Gaza: two were intercepted, one struck an open field, and one fell short and hit an empty classroom at the Ghazi al-Shawa public school in Beit Hanoun. Israeli officials said that more than a dozen rockets had been fired during the preceding week, with five intercepted and six striking Israel.[23] A Meir Amit account counted three rockets directed at Israel that day and reported that three Israelis were injured while running for shelter and two suffered shock. It also recorded the rocket that damaged the classroom inside Gaza.[5]

On December 15, a rocket fell short and landed on the home of the brother of Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri.[11] On December 17, two rockets landed in Israel. One struck a home in a moshav in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, damaging the building and nearby vehicles, while the other landed in an open area. No casualties were reported.[24][11]

On December 29, three rockets were fired from Gaza. Two were intercepted by Iron Dome, while the third landed in the Sha'ar HaNegev region near the entrance to a building. No casualties or damage were immediately reported. Israeli assessments attributed the launches probably to smaller terrorist groups rather than Hamas.[25]

Across the escalation, the Meir Amit Center recorded close to 30 rockets fired from Gaza, with at least 11 falling in Israeli territory. It also cited higher Israeli media and security estimates of 14 to 16 rockets landing in Israel.[5] No organization had claimed responsibility for the entire wave at the time of that report.[5] Individual attacks, however, were claimed by the Brigades of the Unity of Allah and the al-Tawheed Brigades.[2][20]

By the end of 2017, IDF figures counted 35 projectiles fired from Gaza, with most of the annual increase occurring during November and December. The IDF reported striking 59 targets in Gaza in response to rocket and mortar fire.[6] The State Department recorded no Israeli fatalities from the year's Gaza- and Sinai-origin attacks.[3]

The December escalation left damage at a Sderot kindergarten, vehicles, and a home in the Hof Ashkelon region, but it did not develop into a broader sustained conflict.[2][24] Attribution remained fragmented: smaller Salafi-jihadi groups claimed individual launches, while Israel continued to hold Hamas responsible for armed activity originating from Gaza.[20][5]

Israel frequently responded to Gaza rocket fire by striking Hamas military infrastructure, including when smaller organizations were believed to have launched the projectiles. Israeli statements described Hamas, as Gaza's governing authority, as responsible for attacks originating from the territory.[20][4]

Documented responses included strikes against six Hamas positions after the February 6 launch and five targets after the late-February incident.[12][14] Israel destroyed two Hamas outposts after the June 26 launches and attacked Hamas posts following the July 23 and August 8 incidents.[11][16] In December, Israel struck six Hamas military targets after the Sderot attacks, a training compound and weapons-storage facility during the same escalation, and sites in northern Gaza following the December 11 interception.[2][4] The IDF's year-end tally reported 59 targets struck in Gaza during 2017 in response to rocket and mortar fire.[6]

Iron Dome intercepted multiple rockets directed toward populated areas, including Ashkelon and Sderot.[2][21] The Congressional Research Service reported that, of the 35 projectiles counted by the IDF, an estimated 10 either struck residential areas or were intercepted by Iron Dome.[7]

The Meir Amit annual review attributed most of the 22 Gaza-origin rocket hits to rogue Salafi-jihadi organizations rather than directly to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.[1] The Brigades of the Unity of Allah claimed the December 8 Sderot attacks, while the al-Tawheed Brigades claimed launches on December 7.[2][20]

The same annual review separately attributed nine Sinai-origin rocket hits to ISIS's Sinai Province; those launches formed part of its broader cross-border total but were outside the Palestinian and Gaza chronology.[1] The State Department identified Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and ISIS-Sinai Province as terrorist organizations posing threats along Israel's southern border.[3] Palestinian Islamic Jihad was specifically identified as responsible for the November 30 mortar barrage.[11]

No organization was identified for the late-February attack, and no Gaza group claimed the August launch.[14][11] No group immediately claimed the October attack, while the December 29 rockets were assessed as probably having been fired by smaller terrorist groups.[19][25]

The Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Defense Affairs argued that Islamic State-affiliated Salafi groups sought to provoke Israeli retaliation against Hamas, thereby undermining Hamas's relations with Egypt and its post-2014 ceasefire arrangements. It reported that Hamas had arrested approximately 350 Salafi operatives, including some sought by Egypt over suspected terrorist activity in Sinai.[13]

No Israeli fatalities resulted from rocket or mortar attacks during 2017.[3] During the December 13 wave, three Israelis were injured while running for shelter and two suffered shock, with no direct casualties attributed to rocket impacts.[5] Two people suffered anxiety in the Sderot parking-lot attack reported early on December 9.[4]

Property damage was concentrated in December. Rockets damaged a parking lot and kindergarten in Sderot on December 8.[2] On December 17, a home and nearby vehicles in the Hof Ashkelon region were damaged.[24] Earlier Gaza-origin incidents documented in the article generally landed in open areas without recorded damage.

Several rockets fell short inside Gaza. A December 15 rocket landed on the home of a relative of Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri, while a December 13 rocket damaged a classroom in Beit Hanoun.[11][23] Gaza medical authorities reported that 15 people, including children, were wounded in Israeli airstrikes conducted amid the December 8 escalation.[4]

Globes reported that, from the end of Operation Protective Edge in August 2014 through the end of 2017, Gaza-origin rocket and mortar fire caused no casualties and only minor property damage.[8]

Retrospective sources give totals that cannot be directly reconciled. The Meir Amit Center recorded 31 rocket hits in Israeli territory, consisting of 22 from Gaza and nine from Sinai, while excluding mortars and misfires inside Gaza.[1] IDF statistics cited by the Congressional Research Service counted 35 projectiles fired from Gaza.[7] Globes counted 22 rockets and 24 mortar shells from Gaza, for 46 projectiles.[8] Ynet reported 87 rockets and mortar shells.[9] Mako counted 46 rocket-and-mortar-fire events.[10]

The Jewish Virtual Library's annual table gives a figure of 29 for 2017, but does not define whether the number represents attacks, launches, individual projectiles, impacts, or a combination. Its date-by-date chronology alternates among rockets, mortars, and multi-projectile barrages.[26]

For the December escalation, the Meir Amit Center reported close to 30 rockets fired from Gaza and at least 11 falling in Israel, while citing other estimates of 14 to 16 rockets landing in Israel.[5] The differences likely reflect, at least in part, whether a source counts launches, confirmed impacts, interceptions, misfires, mortar shells, or firing events. The sources do not describe their methodologies in enough detail to produce a single definitive total.