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(Sept. 2005-June 2006)
Israel voluntarily withdrew more than 9,000 citizens along with its troops from the Gaza Strip last August and turned the area over to the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) in hopes of paving the way for peace and a potential independent Palestinian state. In carrying out this endeavor, Israelis made painful sacrifices – giving up their homes, places of work and worship as well as their schools and farms. Since then, Palestinian terror groups have used Gaza as a launching point for more than 500 attacks against Israel.
Information about rocket attacks fired at Israel.
June 26, 2006: A day after the attack on Gaza’s Kerem Shalom border crossing, Palestinians continue to fire rockets into Israel. [1] Three Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel that evening evening. Two land in open fields but a third strikes a power pole in Sderot, causing a power outage throughout the city. Four people are lightly injured from shrapnel, and 11 people are treated for shock. [2]
Additionally, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, the armed wing of P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party, announces its members have succeeded in manufacturing chemical and biological weapons. The group threatens to add the new weapons to Qassam rockets it fires into Israel and use them against Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in the event of a ground incursion. [3] The London-based Arabic newspaper Al Hayat reports that the Kerem Shalom attacks were planned by Popular Resistance Committees leader Jamal Abu Samhadana, who had been killed on June 9 in an Israel Air Force (IAF) air strike.
June 25, 2006: Hamas’ military wing, the Izz Eddeen al-Qassam Brigades, together with the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), and a new terrorist group The Army of Islam – presumed to be associated with the global Islamic Jihad movement – join efforts to attack an IDF outpost near the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip. [4]Â
Eight terrorists infiltrate the border via a 100-meter tunnel apparently dug months before under the terminal in the Rafah area. [5] Lt. Hanan Barak, 20, from Arad, and St.-Sgt. Pavel Slotsker, 20, from Dimona [6] are killed in the attack and a third soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, from Mitzpeh Hila is kidnapped by the militants. Four IDF soldiers also are wounded.
June 24, 2006: A special IDF force enters Gaza and arrests Mustafa and Osama Ma’amar, Hamas terrorists accused of planning a major attack against Israel. [7]
June 23, 2006: Gaza militants fire three Qassam rockets at the Sderot area. Israel Radio reports that on the same day, a mortar shell lands near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom on Gaza’s southern border. [8]
June 22, 2006: The IDF prevents two swimmers from smuggling arms into Gaza from Egypt. [9]
June 20, 2006: The Sderot Municipality shuts down the city to protest five years of Qassam rockets hitting the city. [10] Palestinians fire six rockets at Israel. [11] The IDF closes the crossing into the Gaza Strip after receiving a terror alert at the Kerem Shalom crossing. [12]
The IAF targets a structure used by Hamas as part of a weapons manufacturing facility in Gaza City, including projectile rockets. [13]
June 16, 2006: An IAF missile kills Islamic Jihad terrorists Habib Yashour and Ahmad Yassin, field operators responsible for firing Qassams at the house of Amir Peretz in Sderot. [14] Five more Qassams are fired at Israel, one of which wounds a factory worker in Sderot. [15]
June 15, 2006: A day after Hamas’ Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, a member of Hamas, brings 12 suitcases carrying an estimated $20 million from Muslim countries through the Rafah crossing, European Union monitors stationed at the Rafah border crossing protest this exploitation. [16] Three Palestinians attempting to plant explosives at the security fence near the Kissufim Crossing are killed by an IAF missile. [17]
June 13, 2006: An IDF missile strikes a van carrying Katyusha rockets that had been smuggled into Gaza through Egypt, killing two members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, including notorious rocket technician Hamoud Wadiya. [18] Findings from an IDF investigation determine that the IDF was not responsible for incident in which a Palestinian family was killed at a Gaza beach. [19]
June 12, 2006: Ignoring the ultimatum issued by Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz the day before, Palestinians launch almost 20 rockets, while the IDF continues to uphold its promise to suspend air strikes. [20]
June 11, 2006: One of 26 Qassam rockets launched by Palestinians lands near a school in Sderot, [21]severely wounding 60-year-old resident Yonatan Angel. [22]
Another Qassam explodes on a road near Sderot, wounding an Israeli man with shrapnel. [23]
 A Qassam lands in Sderot, wounding two women. [24] Other Qassams hit an industrial part of the city, a house and a chicken coop in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. [25]
Defense Minister Amir Peretz warns that while he will refrain from carrying out a military operation in Gaza, he will approve targeted assassinations of Hamas officials if they fail to curb Qassam attacks. [26]
Palestinian gunmen open fire on a car near the Atarot checkpoint, north of Jerusalem, killing its driver and wounding two passengers.[27]
June 10, 2006: Palestinians fire more Qassam rockets than on any day since they started shelling Israel in April 2001. [28] Nine of the mortars land on Israeli soil. [29] Palestinians also fire an anti-tank missile at Israeli forces guarding the security fence just north of Kerem Shalom. [30] Hamas passes out leaflets in the Gaza Strip encouraging attacks on Israel, with the message that “an earthquake in the Zionist towns will start again.” [31]
June 9, 2006: Hamas declares an end to its ceasefire with Israel, promising to renew attacks. [32] Palestinians launch nine Qassam rockets at Israel. Two hit the city of Sderot. [33] The IDF issues a suspension on all artillery fire in Gaza until an inquiry on the Gaza beach incident can be completed. [34]
May 21, 2006: Two Qassams land in Sderot, one hits an empty classroom while the students were at the school’s synagogue; the second hits the Gevim Junction, south of Sderot. Two women suffer from shock. [35]
May 16, 2006: A Grad-type Katyusha Rocket carrying six kilograms of explosives hits the Negev village of Nativ Haasara, damaging the community’s greenhouse and killing livestock. The Katyusha was fired from the rubble of the evacuated community of Dugit. [36]
May 8, 2006: Eight Qassams are fired from northern Gaza. The rockets are identified by the “Red Dawn” warning system and, according to the police, land in Karmiya and Zikim without causing injury or damage. [37]
April 17, 2006: Nine people are killed and 40 wounded in a suicide bombing near the old central bus station in Tel Aviv. The Islamic Jihad and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claim responsibility. The Hamas-led PA government condones the attack and calls it an act of “self-defense.” [38]
March 30, 2006: Four people are killed in a suicide bombing outside Kedumim in the northern West Bank. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades takes responsibility. [39]
March 28, 2006: A 17-year-old Bedouin and his father are killed by a Qassam fired from Gaza in the Nahal Oz area.
March 1, 2006: Eldad Abir of the Migdalim settlement is killed by two Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades gunmen, who shoot him at point blank range at a gas station outside Migdalim. [40] Â
February 5, 2006: A Palestinian stabs passengers aboard a service taxi to Tel Aviv, killing one passenger and wounding five others. [41]
January 19, 2006: A suicide bomber wounds 18 people in the old train station in Tel Aviv.
2005
December 29, 2005: A Palestinian blows himself up next to a taxi near Tulkarm, killing an Israeli solider searching him and two other occupants of the taxi. Occupants of other Palestinian vehicles are injured. [42]
December 28, 2005: The IDF declares the northern part of the Gaza Strip a closed military zone and drops leaflets in northern Gaza urging Palestinian to leave the newly declared buffer zone by 6 p.m.
December 22, 2005: Five IDF soldiers are lightly injured from a Qassam rocket that lands in their army base south of Ashkelon.
December 21, 2005: As a result of recent Qassam attacks targeting the industrial zone south of Ashkelon, plans are made to connect the area to the Red Dawn rocket launch warning system within two weeks.
December 16, 2005: Terrorists open fire on a vehicle outside Hebron, killing an Israeli man. [43]
December 10, 2005: A Palestinian man smuggling weapons while swimming toward the Gaza coast from Egypt is shot dead by an IDF naval boat. IDF troops uncover a tunnel for smuggling terrorists from Gaza to Israel near the Erez border crossing.
December 8, 2005: The IAF fires missiles onto a house in northern Gaza, killing two high-ranking members of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, Ayad Nagar and Ziyad Qaddas, and wounding six others. An IAF strike also fatally injures Khader Rayana of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in northern Gaza. An Israeli solider is stabbed to death outside the Kalandiya checkpoint, south of Ramallah. Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claims responsibility. [44]
December 7, 2005: Three rockets and one mortar land in Israeli territory from Gaza. The IDF responds by firing dozens of artillery shells into northern Gaza. The IAF also fires a missile at a car carrying Palestinian terrorists, killing the senior Popular Resistance Committees leader Mohammad Arkan and wounding six others.
December 5, 2005: A 21-year old Palestinian kills five people and wounds 50 in a suicide bombing in Netanya, Israel. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.
December 2, 2005: Qassam rockets are fired from Gaza, landing in an open field in the Negev Desert. The Palestinian Authority allows 15 wanted terrorists to enter Rafah, including a founder of Hamas, Ahmed el-Malah.
November 3, 2005: An Israeli soldier is wounded when mortar shells are fired from Gaza at an IDF base near Nahal Oz.
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November 2, 2005: An Israeli is wounded by mortar shells fired from Gaza toward the southern Israeli town of Nativ Haasara.
October 27, 2005: An IAF missile attack on a vehicle carrying terrorists in Gaza’s Jabaliya Refugee Camp kills seven Palestinians.
October 26, 2005: A suicide bomber kills six Israelis in the Israeli town of Hadera. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.
September 24, 2005: Israel launches aerial attacks against vehicles and targeted locations in Gaza, killing three terrorists and four civilians.
September 23, 2005: Palestinian Islamic Jihad fires eight mortars into southern Israel. Later in the day, an explosion causes 15 deaths and leaves 80 people injured during a victory parade organized by Hamas in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority condemns Hamas for the explosion and orders Hamas to stop parading weapons among civilians.
September 16, 2005: As the last Israeli soldiers leave Gaza, Palestinian mobs throughout the region destroy and burn synagogues left in the evacuated towns.
September 13, 2005: Palestinians loot and destroy greenhouses in Gaza, dealing a blow to efforts to reconstruct the Gaza Strip.
August 28, 2005: A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates in Be’er Sheva, Israel. Four Israelis are severely injured and dozens sustain moderate injuries.
August 22, 2005: Israel completes evacuation of all Jewish residents of the Gaza Strip.
Footnotes
[1] Schiff, Ze’ev, “Outsmarted by a tunnel,” Ha’aretz, June 26, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/731197.html
[2] Brannon, Josh, “Four wounded as Qassam hit Sderot,” Jerusalem Post, June 27, 2006
[3] Brannon, Josh, “Al-Aksa claims chemical capabilities,” Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885848200&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[4] Brannon, Josh, “Al Hayat: Abu Samhadana planned Kerem Shalom attack,” Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885844770&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[5] JPost.com staff, “Palestinians wounded, being treated,” Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885844770&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
[6] Brannon, Josh, JPost Staff, and AP, “2 soldiers killed, 4 wounded in the attack,” Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885841743&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[7]Â Harel, Amos, “IDF chief appoints reserve major general to probe Kerem Shalom infiltration,” Ha’aretz, June 26, 2006
[8]Â Harel, Amos, and Issacharoff, Avi, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service,
and The Associated Press, “Qassams continue as Olmert vows to keep up assassinations,” Haaretz, June 23, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/730163.html
[9] Israel Defense Forces, “Weapon Smuggle Attempt Thwarted,” June 22, 2006
[10] Kennemer, Daniel, and Cashman, Greer Fay, “Sderot municipality to shut down city,” The Jerusalem Post, June 20, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150355519173&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[11]Â Katz, Yaakov, and Hoffman, Gil, “Three children killed in IAF missile strike in Gaza,” The Jerusalem Post, June 21, 2006
[13] “Hamas manufacturing facility targeted,” Israel Defense Forces, June 20, 2006, http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/mainpage.asp?sl=EN&id=7&docid=53323&Pos=8&last=1&bScope=True
[14] Katz, Yaakov, “IDF rejects calls for int’l inquiry into Gaza beach tragedy,” The Jerusalem Post , June 18, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150355506993&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[16] ”EU monitors protest cash flow across border,” Agence France Presse (AFP), June 15, 2006, http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060615/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinian
[17]Â Katz, Yaakov, “3 Gaza terrorists killed by air strike,” The Jerusalem Post, June 16, 2006
[18] Erlanger, Steve, and Fisher, Ian, “Israel missiles kill 10 in Gaza,” The New York Times, June 14, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/world/middleeast/14mideast.html?hp&ex=1150257600&en=af098974cae1e3b7&ei=5094&partner=homepage
[19] ”Beach deaths ‘not Israel’s fault,’” BBC News, June 13, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5074792.stm
[20] Katz, Yaakov “Hamas ignores ultimatum, continues raining Kassams on Sderot,” The Jerusalem Post, June 13, 2006
[21]Â Israel Defense Forces, “Qassam Statistics.”
[22] Lazaroff, Tova “Frustrated Sderot survives third day of rockets,” The Jerusalem Post, June 13, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150035838890&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[23]Â Israel Defense Forces, “Qassam Statistics.”
[26] Katz, Yaakov and Keinon, Herb “IDF plan to hit Hamas leadership put on hold,” The Jerusalem Post, June 12, 2006,
[27] “Israel Under Attack: Terror Attack List,” Prime Minister’s Office Web site, http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/, Accessed June 27, 2006
[28]Â Tovah Lazaroff, “Sderot mayor: Destroy Beit Hanun or our city will become a ghost town,” The Jerusalem Post, June 12, 2006,www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150035831221&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[31] Yaakov Katz, “A weekend of conflict in Gaza,” The Jerusalem Post, June 11, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1149572654712&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[32]Â Erlanger, Steve, “Hamas declares it will resume attacking Israel,” The New York Times, June 10, 2006
[33]Â Israel Defense Forces, “Qassam Statistics,” June 13, 2006.
[34]Â Katz, Yaakov, “A weekend of conflict in Gaza,” The Jerusalem Post, June 11, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1149572654712&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[35]Â Hadad, Shmulik, “Qassam hits Sderot school,” Ynetnews, May 21, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3253174,00.html
[36] Hadad, Shmulik, “Katyusha kills 30 chickens”, Ynetnews, May 16, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3251453,00.html
[37]Â Hadad, Shmulik, “8 Qassams fired from Northern Gaza”, Ynetnews, May 8, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3248302,00.html
[38]Â ”Israel: Suicide bombing attempts up sharply in 2006,” Worldtribune.com, April 20, 2006, http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2453846.2493055556.html
[40]Â ”Israel Under Attack: Migdalim,” Prime Minister’s Office Web site, March 1, 2006, http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/migdalim0306/attackmgdal010306.htm
[41] “Israel Under Attack: Petah Tikva,” Prime Minister’s Office Web site, Feb. 5, 2006
http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/petachtikva06/attackpetah050206.htm
[42]Â ”Israel Under Attack: Tulkarm Area,” Prime Minister’s Office Web site, Dec. 29, 2005, http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/Tulkarm1205/attackTulkarm291205.htm
[43]Â ”Israel Under Attack: Southern Hebron Hills,” Prime Minister’s Office Web site, Dec. 16, 2005, http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/southernHebron161205/attacksouthheb161205.htm
[44]Â ”Israel Under Attack: The Kalandiya Checkpoint,” Prime Minister’s Office Web site, Dec. 8, 2005, http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/Kalandiya1205/attackKalandiya081205.htm
The Israel Project is an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. The Israel Project provides journalists, leaders and opinion-makers accurate information about Israel. The Israel Project is not related to any government or government agency.
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