List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2002–06

This is a partial list of Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel between 2002 and 2006. These attacks commenced in April 2001, though the first rocket to actually hit an Israeli city was on 5 March 2002, and the first Israeli fatality was 28 June 2004.

2002
At least 35 rockets were fired at Israel in 2002


 * February 10, 2002
 * A Qassam 2 rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel on Sunday, landing in a field six kilometers from the Gaza border near Kibbutz Sa'ad in the Negev Desert. Israel responded with air force attacks and an armored incursion. Seventeen militant prisoners were released from Gaza jail as a result. No deaths were reported.

2003
At least 155 rockets were fired at Israel in 2003.

2004
At least 281 rockets were fired at Israel in 2004.


 * June 28, 2004
 * Mordechai Yosepov, 49, and Afik Zahavi, 4, were killed when a Qassam rocket struck near a nursery school in Sderot.


 * September 24, 2004
 * Tiferet Tratner, 24, of Neve Dekalim, was killed in her home by a mortar (weapon) attack on the Gush Katif settlement bloc built in Gaza


 * September 29, 2004
 * On the eve of the Sukkot holiday, Yuval Abebeh, 4, and Dorit Benisian, 2, were killed by a Qassam rocket (one of three) fired from Gaza into Sderot. About 30 people were wounded in the attack, for which Hamas claimed responsibility.


 * October 28, 2004
 * Israeli army Sgt. Michael Chizik, 21, of Tiberias, was killed when a mortar shell landed in the settlement of Morag in the Gaza Strip.

2005
1,255 rockets were fired at Israel in 2005.


 * January 5, 2005
 * Nissim Arbiv, 26, of Nissanit, was severely injured by a mortar shell in the Erez industrial zone. He died from his injuries ten days later.


 * January 15, 2005
 * A Qassam rocket attack on Sderot left Ayala Abukasis, 17, brain dead. Ayala was struck while attempting to shield her 11-year-old brother, who suffered minor injuries. She died on January 21.


 * February 9, 2005
 * A barrage of 25 to 50 Qassam rockets and mortar shells hit Neve Dekalim settlement, and another barrage hit at noon. Hamas said it was in retaliation for an attack in which one Palestinian was killed near an Israeli settlement.


 * June 7, 2005
 * Two Palestinian workers, Salah Ayash Imran, 57, Muhammed Mahmoud Jaroun, and a foreign worker Bi Shude, 46, were killed, and five other workers were wounded, when a Qassam rocket hit a packing shed in Ganei Tal, in the Gaza Strip. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.


 * July 14, 2005
 * Dana Galkowicz, 22, was killed in a Qassam attack in the Kibbutz Netiv Ha'asara, just north of the Gaza Strip. Hamas, Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and Fatah all claimed responsibility for the attack.


 * August 25, 2005
 * Two Qassam rockets fired out of the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants landed near the southern Israeli town of Sderot.


 * September 12, 2005
 * Several hours after the Israel withdraws the last of its troops from the Gaza Strip two Qassam rockets are fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip. The first lands near the Israeli town of Sderot, while the second lands near Kibbutz Yad Mordechai.


 * September 24, 2005
 * Five Israelis were injured when Palestinian militants launched about 30 rockets on Israeli communities from the Gaza Strip. This attack followed an incident the previous day, in which 20 Palestinians, including 16 civilians, were killed when a vehicle carrying Qassam rockets exploded during a Hamas rally in Jabalya. The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are still unknown. To date, no evidence has been found to substantiate Hamas’ claim that Israeli interference was responsible for the accident.


 * December 11, 2005
 * A rocket fired from Jenin in the West Bank landed near Ram-On. It was the first Palestinian rocket attack from the West Bank.


 * December 14, 2005
 * Jitladda Tap-arsa, 20, a female Thai national, was killed by a mortar while working in a greenhouse in the Gush Katif settlement of Ganei Tal.


 * December 26, 2005
 * A Qassam rocket landed near a kindergarten during a Hanukkah party at kibbutz Sa'ad.

2006
1,777 rockets were fired at Israel in 2006.


 * February 3, 2006
 * A Qassam rocket struck a family's house in the western Negev village of Karmia, moderately injuring four people, including a 7-month-old baby.


 * March 28, 2006
 * Islamic Jihad fired a 122 mm Katyusha rocket from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Near the Kibbutz Nachal Oz two Israeli-Arabs (Salam Ziadin and Khalid, 16, a Bedouin father and son) are killed when a dormant Qassam rocket they find in the Nahal Oz area explodes. Katyushas, frequently used by Hezbollah in Lebanon, had never before been fired from Gaza. Larger numbers of Qassam rockets began landing in the Western Negev in March 2006: 49 in March, 64 in April, 46 in May, and over 83 by the end of June. Most of the rocket launches prior to 2006 were carried out by Islamic Jihad but following Hamas's election victory, other groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement have been claimed to take over the firings.


 * March 30, 2006
 * Two Qassam rockets landed in kibbutz Karmia, south of Ashkelon, one of them in a football field, where children played only hours earlier, and injured one person.


 * June 11, 2006
 * Three people are wounded, one critically when a Qassam landed near the Sapir Academic College near the Negev town of Sderot. 14 Qassams are fired throughout the day.


 * July 4, 2006
 * A Qassam rocket hits a High school at the Israeli city Ashkelon. The rocket was launched by Hamas militants from the town of Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza strip.


 * July 6, 2006
 * 10 Qassam rockets are launched at Israeli towns from the northern Gaza Strip, inflicting damage but no casualties.


 * July 7, 2006
 * Three Israeli civilians are wounded when a Qassam rocket lands in a basketball court in Sderot.


 * July 9, 2006
 * An Israeli civilian is moderately wounded as a Qassam rocket strikes his private car in Sderot. Another rocket directly hits a house in Sderot, causing severe damage but no casualties.


 * July 27, 2006
 * A Qassam rocket landed next to a kindergarten in a community south of Ashkelon at 10:45 a.m. Friday. Two children were lightly wounded and eight more people suffered shock. Additionally, the kindergarten building was damaged.


 * September 20, 2006
 * Two teenage Israeli Arab shepherds were moderately wounded by two Qassam rockets fired from Gaza.


 * November 15, 2006
 * Twelve rockets in four separate attacks hit Sderot, killing Faina Slutzker, 57, and seriously wounding two others. One of the wounded, Maor Peretz, a security guard, lost both legs in the attack.


 * November 21, 2006
 * A Qassam rocket struck a factory and hit 43 year-old Yaakov Yaakobov, fatally wounding him.