Palestinian Rocket Attacks on Israel in 2022

Rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip against Israeli civilian communities have been a persistent feature of Israeli security challenges since the early 2000s. The Jewish Virtual Library maintains a date-by-date record of such attacks spanning from 2001 onward, excluding drone attacks.[3] Outside the August escalation, Gaza-based terrorist groups launched rockets at lower volumes than in 2021.[4]

The most significant context for the year's rocket activity was the security situation surrounding Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In early August, Israel arrested senior PIJ official Bassam al-Saadi in Jenin, triggering an anticipation of retaliatory attacks.[5] The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs argues that the subsequent Israeli operation was launched to thwart anticipated PIJ attacks on Israeli targets, including planned attacks using antitank missiles and sniper fire.[5] PIJ threats of retaliation led to lockdowns in much of southern Israel before Israel launched its operation with the stated aim of thwarting possible retaliation.[6]

Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, maintained a notably different posture from PIJ throughout the year. Its military wing, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, did not participate in the major August rocket campaign, according to ITIC.[7] Israel and Egypt reportedly worked to keep Hamas out of the fighting during the August escalation.[5]

On January 1, two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip toward central Israel and fell into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast.[8] Initial Israeli assessments described the launches as accidental, but later intelligence reports led officials to conclude they were intentional and aimed at Tel Aviv; the launching organization was not identified.[8] This incident does not appear in the Jewish Virtual Library's date-by-date 2022 table, and the source does not explain whether such launches fall outside the table's inclusion criteria.[3]

Between April 18 and April 23, five rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israeli communities in four separate attacks. Four landed in Israeli territory and one fell inside Gaza; one of the rockets damaged a house in Sderot.[2] ITIC said responsibility was unknown for these launches and suggested the fire may have come from Palestinian Islamic Jihad or from groups that did not accept Hamas's authority.[2]

On April 18, a single rocket fired toward communities near the Gaza border was intercepted by Iron Dome; sirens sounded in Kissufim and Ein HaShlosha.[9] It was the first rocket attack from Gaza in four months.[9] Israel responded with overnight airstrikes on Hamas military sites.[10]

Two days later, on the evening of April 20, a rocket triggered alarms in Sderot, Ivim, and Nir Am.[11] It struck near a home in Sderot, causing light damage to the house and a parked car; no physical injuries were immediately reported, while four people were treated for shock.[12] A man around 70 suffered anxiety and was evacuated to hospital.[11] The IDF later clarified that the rocket launched at approximately 22:33 caused shrapnel damage to a parked car and a wall near a Sderot home, and that a subsequent Iron Dome activation during an IDF raid was triggered by gunshots, not rockets — distinguishing the confirmed impact from a false alarm that followed.[13]

On the evening of April 22, two rockets were fired from Gaza: one exploded in an open area near the border security fence, while the other fell inside northern Gaza near Beit Hanoun, wounding two Palestinians.[2] In the early hours of April 23, a third rocket fell in an open area in Israel; no damage or casualties were reported.[2] Contemporaneous reports variously described the April 22–23 sequence as the fourth and fifth rocket attack on southern Israel that week, reflecting differing counts of the incidents.[14]

Overnight on April 24–25, a rocket launched from southern Lebanon landed near Kibbutz Matzuva in the western Galilee without causing damage or injuries; no warning sirens sounded.[15] No group claimed responsibility. IDF spokesperson Ran Kochav assessed that Palestinian factions were responsible and linked the incident to Ramadan and events on the Temple Mount, while ITIC reported that Israeli security assessments attributed the launch to Hamas operatives in south Lebanon.[2][15] Lebanese media reported that one or two Grad rockets may have been fired. The IDF fired artillery at the launch area.[2]

Israel closed the border crossings from April 22 to 25 in response to the rocket fire, temporarily barring Gaza workers from entering Israel or returning to Gaza.[4]

A rocket fired from Gaza toward Ashkelon was intercepted at approximately 3:10 a.m. on June 18, breaking a two-month lull in attacks.[16] Sirens sounded in Ashkelon and surrounding communities. The attack was thought to have been carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad in response to the deaths of three Palestinians in a gunfight with Israeli troops in Jenin the previous day.[16]

On July 16, four rockets were fired from Gaza in two separate launches. Shortly before 1:00 a.m., two rockets were aimed at the Ashkelon area: Iron Dome intercepted one, and the other landed in an open area.[17] At 4:45 a.m., two additional rockets were fired toward Moshav Ahuzam in the Lachish Regional Council and exploded in open areas.[17] No physical injuries or damage were reported; two people in Ashkelon were treated for anxiety.[18] Israel subsequently carried out airstrikes on Hamas sites that included weapons-production facilities and an underground workshop for producing rocket-related raw materials.[17]

The dominant event of 2022 in terms of rocket volume was Operation Breaking Dawn, a three-day military exchange between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that began on August 5 and concluded with a ceasefire on the night of August 7. ITIC attributed most launches to the Jerusalem Brigades, the military wing of PIJ, with a small number attributed to the military wings of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Resistance Committees.[7] Hamas's Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades did not participate in the rocket fire.[7]

Israel launched the operation to preempt anticipated PIJ attacks on Israeli targets following the arrest of senior PIJ official Bassam al-Saadi.[6] The U.S. State Department's terrorism report states that Israeli forces launched 147 airstrikes on August 5 in anticipation of retaliation, and that PIJ responded with a sustained rocket campaign.[19] Rocket barrages targeted communities near Gaza and were also directed toward southern and coastal cities, the greater Tel Aviv area, and the Jerusalem area.[7]

By 7:00 p.m. on August 7, the IDF's count stood at 935 rockets and mortars launched toward Israel since fighting began; approximately 160 had fallen inside Gaza and approximately 300 had been intercepted by Iron Dome, with a 96% interception rate for projectiles headed toward populated areas.[20][21] About 600 rockets and mortar shells were fired on August 7 alone — the final day of the operation — before the ceasefire took effect at 23:30.[7] The last launch was recorded a few minutes before 22:30.[7]

Final tallies for the operation differ across sources. ITIC's operational summary reports 1,175 rockets launched at Israel during the three days.[7] A separate ITIC examination of fatalities gives approximately 990 of the 1,175 rockets as landing in Israeli territory, with about 450 intercepted by Iron Dome and around 200 falling inside Gaza or into the Mediterranean Sea.[22] The IDF year-end figure, as reported by the Jerusalem Post, placed the total at 1,162 rockets, with a 97% Iron Dome success rate.[23] Globes reported 1,233 rockets over the three-day operation.[24] The Jewish Virtual Library estimates approximately 1,100 rockets during 56 hours of fighting, with at least 200 malfunctioning and exploding within the Gaza Strip and Iron Dome intercepting 380.[25] The State Department human-rights report, citing ITIC, gives 1,175 rockets and mortars and a 96% interception rate; it also relays an IDF figure of more than 900 rockets crossing into Israel and more than 200 misfiring and landing in Gaza.[4] The State Department terrorism report gives 1,100 rockets.[19] These figures include time-stamped and full-operation reports and use differing measures of launches, entries into Israel, interceptions, and misfires; the reviewed sources do not fully reconcile them.

On the first full day of the operation, an August 6 report said over 350 projectiles had been fired in the preceding 24 hours; Iron Dome intercepted 95% of approximately 170 projectiles headed for populated areas, about 100 rockets fell short in Gaza, and the remaining projectiles struck open areas in Israel or landed in the Mediterranean.[26] One projectile struck a Sderot family home while its occupants sheltered in a protected room; they were unharmed.[26] On August 7, a rocket struck a house in the Eshkol Regional Council, lightly damaging it while residents were in a protected room. A separate rocket fell in a Sderot neighborhood, causing property damage but no bodily injuries, and a rocket-related injury was recorded at a factory in Ashkelon.[21]

No Israelis were killed during the operation.[6][25] ITIC reported 70 Israelis wounded by shrapnel or while running to protected areas, mostly with superficial injuries, along with damage to homes and factories, approximately 13 fires caused by rocket hits, and damage to Erez Crossing facilities from three mortar shells.[7] The State Department human-rights report, citing UNOCHA, gives 70 Israelis injured, including 47 hospitalized.[4]

The ceasefire was achieved through Egyptian mediation and declared late on August 7.[5] The IDF focused its strikes on PIJ targets rather than Hamas targets throughout the operation, and Israel and Egypt sought to prevent Hamas from joining the fighting.[5] The IDF struck 170 targets, destroying 45 long-range rocket launchers and 17 observation points along the Gaza border.[25]

Palestinian casualties during the August fighting are documented with varying figures and attribution across reviewed sources. The State Department human-rights report, citing UNOCHA, records 49 Palestinians killed during the escalation, including 17 children, and 360 Palestinians injured, including 151 children and 58 women.[4] The same report cites UNOCHA estimates of 37 civilian deaths and 12 deaths among armed-group members.[4]

A Haaretz analysis relayed in the State Department report states that 35 of the 49 Palestinian deaths resulted from Israeli security-force activity; 22 of the 49 were reportedly uninvolved in hostilities, and 14 of those 22 reportedly died as a result of failed Palestinian rocket launches falling inside Gaza.[4] ITIC's own examination of fatalities during Operation Breaking Dawn found that approximately half were terrorist operatives.[22]

A disputed incident involved an explosion at a cemetery beside Jabalia refugee camp that killed five children. The State Department report describes PIJ terrorists as having reportedly launched a rocket from the cemetery area while children were playing, and states that the IDF reportedly destroyed the launching unit and killed the children in an immediate counterstrike.[4] The report presents these details as reported claims and does not reach an uncontested finding on responsibility.

ITIC described the November 3 launches as the first rocket fire at Israel since Operation Breaking Dawn ended in August.[27] On the evening of November 3, four rockets were fired from Gaza toward communities in the Eshkol Regional Council.[28] One rocket was intercepted by Iron Dome after sirens sounded in Kissufim, Ein HaShlosha, and Nirim; three more rockets were launched approximately an hour later but fell inside Gaza.[29] No injuries were reported. Palestinian Islamic Jihad later claimed responsibility, stating that the attack responded to the killing of a senior member of its armed wing, Farouk Salameh, in Jenin earlier that day.[29] Hamas security forces investigated the launches; a Hamas security source said two residents of Beit Hanoun had been detained and allegedly belonged to a Salafist group, and claimed the rockets carried no explosives.[28] These competing accounts — PIJ's public claim of responsibility and the Hamas security source's allegations about local Salafists — were not reconciled in the reviewed sources.[28][29]

On December 3, one rocket was fired from Gaza toward southern Israel. JNS reported that sirens sounded in Kfar Aza and Nahal Oz, that the projectile was headed for an unpopulated area, and that Iron Dome was therefore not activated; no injuries or damage were reported.[30] ITIC instead reported that no warning sirens sounded and that no organization claimed responsibility.[31] Palestinian Islamic Jihad was believed to have fired the rocket.[30] In response, Israeli aircraft attacked several Hamas targets in southern Gaza before dawn on December 4, including a military position, a rocket-manufacturing facility, and a tunnel.[31]

Only three rockets were fired from Gaza during the five months following Operation Breaking Dawn, contrasting that relative quiet with the massive barrage of August.[32] The retrospective reporting did not identify the dates or specific details of all three launches.[32]

Compiling a single authoritative annual total for Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel in 2022 is complicated by the varying counts across reviewed sources. ITIC's annual summary counted 959 rockets and mortar shells that hit Israeli territory during 2022 — 946 during Operation Breaking Dawn and 13 outside it, comprising 11 before the operation and two afterward.[1] The Jewish Virtual Library's annual totals table reports 1,115 rockets and mortars against Israel for 2022, without explaining its counting methodology.[33] Available State Department reporting does not provide a comprehensive annual total, identifying the August 5–7 escalation as the major quantified episode and noting only that terrorist groups occasionally launched rockets at other times in the year, in lower numbers than in 2021.[4]

A time-stamped IDF count at 7:00 p.m. on August 7 stood at 935 rockets and mortars.[20] Later full-operation totals included approximately 1,100 in the State Department terrorism report and 1,162 in the IDF year-end report.[19][23] ITIC reported 1,175, while Globes reported 1,233.[7][24] The differences may reflect reporting cutoffs, differing definitions of a launch versus an impact in Israeli territory, and whether rockets that fell inside Gaza are included. None of the reviewed sources reconcile the figures explicitly.

The Jewish Virtual Library's date-by-date incident table for 2022 lists the following events: April 18, one rocket intercepted; April 20, one rocket landing in Sderot, with several people treated for shock; April 22, three rockets fired, two landing inside Gaza; June 18, one rocket toward Ashkelon intercepted; July 16, four rockets fired, one intercepted; August 5–8, approximately 1,100 rockets launched by Islamic Jihad; November 3, four rockets fired, one intercepted and three landing in Gaza; and December 3, one rocket landing near Nahal Oz and Kfar Aza.[3] That table does not include the January 1 launches, and the reviewed sources do not explain whether sea-falling rockets or rockets initially assessed as accidental are excluded from its criteria.[3][8]

Several aspects of the 2022 rocket record rest on incomplete or contested information. The reviewed sources do not provide a comprehensive incident-by-incident list covering all launches across the full calendar year. The State Department human-rights report quantifies the August escalation and refers to other launches during the year without supplying dates or counts for all of them.[4]

Full-operation totals for the August campaign range from approximately 1,100 to 1,233 rockets, depending on the source.[19][24] ITIC's annual count of 946 rockets hitting Israeli territory during the operation also differs from the same organization's separate examination, which places the number landing in Israeli territory at approximately 990; the reviewed sources do not explain the methodology difference.[1][22]

Attribution for several individual incidents was never established. The January 1 sea-landing launches were never claimed, and the initial accidental assessment was later revised to intentional without identifying a responsible group.[8] The April 24–25 Lebanon rocket was attributed by Israeli assessments to Hamas operatives but remained unclaimed.[2] The November 3 launches generated competing accounts: PIJ publicly claimed responsibility, while a Hamas security source alleged that local Salafists with rockets lacking explosives were responsible.[28][29] These uncertainties do not alter the documented pattern of rocket terrorism directed at Israeli civilians throughout the year.