Rocket and mortar fire into Israel

Data

Based on B'Tselem’s research, from June 2004 to the end of Operation Cast Lead, on 17 January 2009, 19 civilians were killed in Israel by rockets and mortar fire by Palestinians. Four of them were minors. In addition, two soldiers were killed. Another Israeli civilian and one foreign national were killed by Qassam rockets in settlements in the Gaza Strip, prior to their evacuation. Qassam rocket fire also killed five Palestinians, two of them minors.

According to UN figures, in 2005, 1,194 Qassam rockets were fired at Israel (an average of 100 a month), in 2006 the rocket fire increased to 1,786 (an average of 149 a month), and in 2007, 1,331 were fired (an average of 111 a month). According to Israel Security Agency figures, in 2008, 2,048 rockets and more than 1,672 mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel (this figure does not include the period of Operation Cast Lead, which began on 27 December, during which the rocket and mortar fire increased significantly).

An Israeli police officer extinguishes a burning car after a Qassam rocket attack in Sderot. Photo: Amir Cohen, Reuters, 19 May 2007.

Rocket and mortar fire as a war crime

Palestinian organizations that fire rockets and mortar shells into Israel openly declare that they intend to strike Israeli civilians, among other targets. Aiming attacks at civilians is both immoral and illegal, and the intentional killing of civilians is defined a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime that cannot be justified, under any circumstance. Furthermore, the rockets and mortar shells are illegal weapons, even when aimed at military objects, as they are greatly imprecise and endanger civilians present both in the area from which they are fired and where they land, thus violating two fundamental principles of the laws of war: distinction and proportionality.

In a significant number of cases, Palestinians have fired the rockets and mortar shells from civilian residential areas. International humanitarian law (IHL) prohibits attacks from inside or near the homes of civilians, and using civilians as human shields. Palestinian organizations that choose to carry out attacks against communities in Israel from within or near populated areas breach this rule, and in doing so, demonstrate not only their intention to harm Israeli civilians, but also indifference to the lives of Palestinian civilians.

The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip must do everything in its power to stop the rocket and mortar fire, and the Palestinian organizations must cease attacks aimed at civilians, in particular when they are carried out from populated Palestinian areas. The government is responsible for the breaches of international humanitarian law, due to its failure to take sufficient action to stop the firing from areas close to civilian homes, and even more so, as it actively takes part in these attacks. The persons involved in these breaches are guilty of war crimes and bear individual criminal responsibility for their acts.