Palestinian Rocket Attacks on Israel in 2018

Gaza-based terrorist organizations had maintained a comparatively low level of rocket fire in the years immediately preceding 2018. An IDF year-end review reported approximately 1,000 rockets and mortar shells during the 2018 escalation rounds, about 28 times the 35 projectiles recorded in 2017.[5] Other annual compilations reported 1,119 rocket and mortar-shell firing events in 2018.[2][3]

The fire was concentrated in six principal escalation rounds rather than distributed evenly across the year. A JCFA table lists rounds on May 29, June 19, July 13–14, August 8–9, October 25–28, and November 12–13, with approximate projectile totals of 150, 67, 214, 180, 40, and 470 respectively.[1] These round-level figures were compiled from ITIC, Israeli government material, and contemporary reporting and should not be treated as a complete day-by-day inventory.

Iron Dome played a central role in limiting casualties. IDF year-end figures reported approximately 1,000 launches, about 250 interceptions, and 45 impacts in populated areas.[6] Direct strikes nonetheless damaged homes, factories, schools, and public facilities in southern Israeli communities, including Sderot, Ashkelon, Netivot, and communities near the Gaza border.[7][8]

The year opened with scattered, low-level fire. Four rockets were fired on January 1, all landing in open areas. Three more were launched on January 4 and landed in open fields near Israeli border communities without causing injuries; the Israeli Air Force subsequently struck terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. On January 15, a rocket aimed toward Israel fell short inside Gaza, striking a home and injuring three residents.[7]

On February 1, one rocket landed in Israel without causing damage or injuries. Multiple rockets were recorded on February 17, including one that landed on a house in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. Another rocket landed in an open area on February 18.[7]

The first major escalation erupted on May 29 after weeks of Palestinian protests along the Gaza border. A dated chronology records 70 rockets and mortar shells in two volleys that day. One projectile exploded in the yard of an Israeli kindergarten, and five Israelis were wounded, most by mortar shrapnel.[7] Ynet reported about 100 rockets and mortar shells during May 29 and documented a rocket strike that damaged a stadium in Netivot.[9]

Reported totals varied with the counting period and the time of publication. The dated chronology gives 70 projectiles for May 29, while Ynet reported approximately 100 that day.[7][9] The JCFA round table gives an approximate total of 150 and lists five Israelis wounded and 60 Israeli targets struck in Gaza.[1] The differing totals therefore reflect different reporting windows and compilation methods rather than a single settled count.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad jointly took responsibility for the heavy fire and described it as the largest barrage from Gaza since Operation Protective Edge. Their statement said attacks would be answered in kind and that they would maintain that equation regardless of the cost.[9] The JCFA table attributes the initiating attack to PIJ and presents it as retaliation for the deaths of three PIJ operatives on May 27.[1]

Three rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel on June 3.[7] The month's most significant round occurred on June 19–20, when 45 rockets were fired toward Israel. Seven were intercepted, others landed in unpopulated areas, and three struck near community centers and schools. No injuries were reported, although residents of most border communities spent the night in shelters. The Israeli Air Force struck 25 Hamas targets in response.[7]

On the night of June 26 and into the early morning of June 27, 13 rockets were fired, three of which were intercepted by Iron Dome. The fire was described as retaliation for an attempted Israeli assassination of a Hamas terrorist whose car was destroyed while he was not inside it.[7]

The July 13–14 escalation produced the heaviest concentrated fire of the year to that point. Globes reported approximately 200 rockets and mortar shells fired toward Gaza-border communities and Sderot on July 14.[10] The Jewish Virtual Library chronology recorded 174 projectiles, 40 Iron Dome interceptions, and three Israelis wounded when a rocket struck their home in Sderot.[7] The JCFA table gives a round total of 214 projectiles and four Israeli wounded.[1]

The JCFA describes the trigger as an Israeli response after an IDF officer was wounded by a grenade on July 13. It lists Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot, and Gaza-border towns as impact areas and records the destruction of a five-story building at al-Katiba that it describes as a Hamas urban-warfare training facility.[1]

Israel carried out airstrikes on more than 40 Hamas military installations.[7] Hamas and PIJ subsequently announced that they would hold their fire following Egyptian mediation, although four additional mortar shells were detected the following night; one was intercepted and the IDF destroyed a mortar position.[10] Nine further rockets were fired over July 25–26, all landing in open areas near the border fence without causing injuries.[7]

The August 8–9 round extended the geographic reach of the attacks. The JCFA table records 180 rockets and lists Ashkelon, Netivot, Beersheba, and Gaza-border communities as affected areas.[1] Ynet reported more than 150 launches, including more than 80 after midnight, with 25 intercepted by Iron Dome. Twenty-three people reached Barzilai Medical Center during the escalation, and a foreign worker was moderately to seriously wounded by shrapnel in the Eshkol region.[11]

A dated chronology separately recorded eight rockets on August 8: two were intercepted, four landed in open areas, and two struck Sderot, causing damage and two injuries.[7] Impacts were also reported in the Eshkol Regional Council, Hof Ashkelon, and the Sha'ar HaNegev industrial zone.[11]

Ynet reported that the escalation followed an Israeli strike two days earlier that killed two Hamas military-wing operatives after Israeli troops mistook gunfire during a Hamas special-forces exercise for fire directed at them. The IDF attributed responsibility for the escalation to Hamas and reported striking more than 140 targets. Three Palestinians, including a woman and a young child, were reported killed.[11] The State Department identified two of those killed as one-year-old Bayan Abu Khamash and the child's pregnant mother, Inas Abu Kahmas, who were killed at their home in Deir al-Balah.[12]

On October 17, two rockets were launched from Gaza: one hit a house in Beersheba, while another, fired toward central Israel, landed in the Mediterranean Sea. A woman and her three children reached the house's security room before the impact.[3] A JCFA analysis attributed the launches to Hamas and PIJ but acknowledged uncertainty over which operatives carried them out, whether proxies were used, and why neither organization initially claimed responsibility. The IDF later struck more than 20 Hamas targets after a further attempted launch.[13]

A larger barrage followed on October 26–27. The JCFA table records approximately 40 rockets and mortar shells directed toward Sderot, western Negev communities, and the area south of Ashkelon.[1] Calcalist reported at least 30 launches, about 10 interceptions, and two projectiles falling inside Gaza. A 14-year-old boy and a man around 50 were lightly injured while seeking shelter, and seven people were treated for anxiety.[14]

Palestinian sources cited by Calcalist attributed the barrage to PIJ and said it had been carried out without Hamas's approval. The IDF nevertheless maintained that Hamas bore responsibility for events in and from Gaza and reported striking approximately 80 Hamas targets in response.[14]

The year's most severe escalation unfolded over November 12–13. The JCFA table describes the triggering events as a failed Israeli special-forces operation near Khan Yunis and an attack on an Israeli military bus near Gaza.[1] Seventeen rockets had been fired at Israel on November 11, three of which were intercepted.[7] During the following 24 hours, more than 400 rockets were fired and about 100 were intercepted.[8] The JCFA round table gives an approximate total of 470 projectiles, one civilian killed, and 100 Israelis wounded.[1]

Ynet's rolling report from November 12 counted approximately 200 launches and about 60 interceptions. Rockets struck Sderot and Netivot, a house in Ashkelon caught fire after a direct hit, and another projectile struck the Netivot Religious Council building. A 19-year-old man was seriously wounded when an anti-tank missile struck a bus near the Gaza border.[15] A later N12 account recorded more than 100 rockets fired toward the Eshkol Regional Council alone, 15 impacts in or near its communities, and six direct hits on a factory and homes in Ashkelon, Hof Ashkelon, Netivot, and Sderot.[8]

More than 400 rockets were fired during the November 12–13 period, the highest number in a 24-hour period since Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Schools closed and civilians took shelter throughout affected areas.[4] A direct hit on a home in Ashkelon killed a Palestinian laborer.[12] The JCFA records 160 Israeli strikes in Gaza and the destruction of the al-Aqsa TV building.[1] A ceasefire agreement followed on November 13.[16]

Following the November ceasefire, roughly six weeks of relative calm returned to southern Israel. On December 29, a rocket from Gaza struck an unpopulated area in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, causing no injuries or damage. Israel responded with helicopter fire on a Hamas post in southern Gaza. A resident of nearby Kibbutz Or Haner commented, "A month and a half is nothing," reflecting continued concern that the ceasefire might not prove durable.[16]

Annual compilations documented a sharp increase in rocket and mortar fire during 2018. Mako and Globes reported 1,119 firing events involving rockets and mortar shells, the highest annual figure of the preceding decade apart from the military operations in 2012 and 2014.[2][3] The IDF year-end review used a lower approximate figure of 1,000 projectiles, of which about 250 were intercepted and 45 landed in populated areas.[5][6]

The State Department's human-rights report stated that Palestinian terrorist groups launched more than 1,150 rockets and mortars from Gaza toward "arbitrary or civilian" targets in Israel between March 30 and December 5. It reported that more than 200 Israelis sought medical treatment, mostly for shock.[12] Its terrorism report used a narrower scope, recording more than 750 projectiles across four major exchanges beginning at the end of May, with Iron Dome intercepting more than 100.[4]

Israeli military responses involved strikes on Hamas and PIJ infrastructure throughout Gaza. IDF figures reported approximately 250 Iron Dome interceptions during the year.[6] Ynet's year-end review stated in its body that Israel carried out 865 strikes in Gaza and destroyed 15 tunnels, including a maritime tunnel; the State Department human-rights report also gives 865 strikes.[5][12]

The principal sources use different units and reporting scopes. Mako described 1,119 rocket and mortar firing events, while Globes described 1,119 rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel.[2][3] The IDF year-end review reported approximately 1,000 projectiles during the year's escalation rounds, whereas the State Department counted more than 1,150 rockets and mortars between March 30 and December 5.[5][12] These figures are not directly interchangeable because the sources do not consistently distinguish launches, firing events, impacts, rockets, and mortar shells.

Individual-round totals also changed as reporting windows expanded. For May 29, the Jewish Virtual Library gives 70 rockets and mortars, while Ynet reported approximately 100; the JCFA table gives 150 for the broader round.[7][9] The November escalation produced a rolling count of approximately 200 on the afternoon of November 12, more than 400 across roughly 24 hours, approximately 460 in the Globes annual review, and 470 in the JCFA table.[15][8]

Attribution was also disputed in some cases. The October 17 analysis linked Hamas and PIJ to the launches while acknowledging uncertainty over the individuals who fired them and the possible use of proxies.[13] For October 26–27, Palestinian sources attributed the barrage to PIJ and said Hamas had not approved it, while the IDF maintained that Hamas bore overall responsibility for attacks originating from territory under its control.[14] Such disagreements reflect the difficulties of assigning responsibility within a multi-faction terrorist environment.