Timeline: Terror Attacks by Hamas Since Israel’s 2005 Gaza Withdrawal 

Terrorist training camps in Iran

In August 2005, Israel voluntarily evacuated all of the roughly 9,000 Israelis living in Gaza and handed control of Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority (P.A.). Israel had hoped that doing so would pave the way for an independent Palestinian state. Instead, Iran-backed Hamas has used Gaza as a launching pad for attacking Israel with thousands of rockets, missiles, and mortars.

Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007 in a bloody internecine battle against P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party. In addition to the rocket and mortar attacks, Hamas – with the help of Iran – has carried out numerous deadly attacks on Israelis in Israel and near the border with Gaza.

In 2008, Iran helped Hamas upgrade its mortar supplyfor attacks on Israeli communities bordering Gaza. [1] Hamas operatives undergo training in tactical warfare and weapons operation. They acquire skills for launching rockets, detonating improvised explosive devices, sniper tactics, and other terrorist and guerrilla warfare techniques, similar to those commonly used by Iran-backed Hezbollah.[2]

In a renewed burst of violence at the end of 2008, Palestinian terror groups in Gaza fired hundreds of rockets and mortars at Israeli cities and towns for several weeks, prompting Israel to launch a defensive operation against Hamas in Gaza from December 2008-January 2009. Since the month-long operation, the number of Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks against Israel has fallen dramatically.

Timeline of terror attacks perpetrated by Hamas since Aug. 2005

Sept. 21, 2005: Sasson Nuriel, 55, of Jerusalem was kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian terrorists. His body was found on Sept. 26 in a garbage dump in the industrial zone of Bitunya, west of Ramallah.[3]

Sept. 12, 2006: An IDF reserve Bedouin tracker was killed by sniper fire during an army operation to uncover terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, near the Kissufim Crossing. Both Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the shooting.[4]

March 19, 2007: Kobi Ohion, 42, an employee of the Israel Electric Corporation, was shot and wounded while repairing infrastructure at a fuel depot on the Israeli side of the border, north of the Karni commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.[5]

July 12, 2007: Staff Sgt. Arbel Raich, 21, was killed when his unit was attacked near the al-Bureij refugee camp during a counter-terrorist operation in central Gaza. Two additional soldiers were wounded. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum praised the killing.[6]

Aug. 21, 2007: Hamas claimed responsibility for the firing of 25 mortar shells at Gaza-Israeli border crossings. Five mortar shells were fired at the Kerem Shalom crossing; 12 landed east of the Kissufim military post.[7]

Dec. 11, 2007: In the southern Gaza Strip, terrorists fired at IDF forces and launched anti-tank missiles (two soldiers were injured); the Israeli Air Force attacked a Hamas position in the central Gaza Strip (three Hamas operatives were killed); and, in response to mortar fire on Kibbutz Nahal Oz, IDF forces attacked a terrorist squad in the northern Gaza Strip.[8]

Jan. 15-28, 2008: 170 rockets and 83 mortars were launched from Gaza into Israel’s western Negev.

Feb. 4, 2008: Two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts reached the city of Dimona. One blew himself up, killing one woman and wounding 10 others. The other suicide bomber was killed by a police officer before he could detonate his belt. Although many terrorist organizations claimed responsibility for the attack, it was apparently carried out by a Hamas squad based in Hebron.[9]

Feb. 8, 2008: Hamas claimed responsibility for rockets that targeted the power station in Ashkelon, which provides the Gaza Strip with most of its electricity (Al-Qassam website, Feb. 8).[10]

Feb. 27, 2008: The Israeli Air Force killed five Iran-trained Hamas operatives as they planned a major terrorist attack. Hamas then fired a barrage of 50 rockets targeting western Negev towns and villages.

Feb. 28, 2008: Another 20 rockets were launched, most of them landing in and around Sderot. One hit the parking lot of Sapir College on the outskirts of Sderot, killing Roni Yihye, a 47-year-old student and father of four.[11]

Feb. 29, 2008: A 3-year-old Arab girl was killed when a rocket launched by Hamas terrorists fell short and struck near the girl’s house in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.[12]

March 2, 2008: Hamas fired a long-range Grad missile—imported from Iran— into the city of Ashkelon, more than 16 km from Gaza. Militants fired 20 more Iranian-made Grad missiles later that day.[13] [14]

May 23, 2008: Two rockets were fired at Sderot.[15]

June 5, 2008: Amnon Rosenberg, 51, of Kibbutz Nirim was killed and four co-workers were wounded when a 120-mm mortar bomb exploded outside the Nirlat paint factory in Kibbutz Nir-Oz, southwest of Sderot.[16]

June 12, 2008: Falsely blaming Israel for an explosion that occurred in a Gaza residential building earlier in the day, Hamas launched three Grad (Kaytusha) rockets, 18 Kassam rockets and 22 mortars at Israel. As a result of the Hamas fire, a 59-year-old Israeli woman was wounded at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, as was a Palestinian man at Gaza’s Erez crossing. [17]

June 16, 2008: One man was wounded when a Grad-type rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in the Old Muslim Cemetery near Ashkelon’s city market. Several other people suffered from shock. Another rocket exploded inside the city. Gaza's Hamas rulers took responsibility for the strike. [18]

November- December 2008: In a renewed burst of violence, Hamas and affiliated Palestinian terrorist groups fired 190 rockets and 138 mortar shells into Israel Nov. 4 – Dec. 16. [19]

December 2008: Rocket fire from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip intensified, with dozens of rockets hitting Israel daily, prompting Israel to launch a defensive operation on Hamas in Gaza that began December 27.
[20]

Dec. 27, 2008: A 58-year-old resident in the Israeli town of Netivot was killed when a rocket fired from Gaza hit an apartment. [21]

Dec. 29, 2008: Hani al-Mahdi, 27, of Aroar, a Bedouin settlement in the Negev, was killed when a Grad-type rocket fired from Gaza exploded at a construction site in Ashkelon; 16 other workers were wounded. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. [22]

Dec. 29, 2008: A 39-year-old woman, Irit Sheetrit, of Ashdod was killed and several others wounded when a Grad rocket exploded in the center of Ashdod. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. [23]

Dec. 29, 2008: Warrant Officer Lutfi Nasraladin, 38, a resident of the Druze town of Daliat el-Carmel was killed by a mortar attack on a military base near Nahal Oz. [24]

The following attacks were carried out by a variety of Gaza-based terror groups and in some cases, Hamas (specifically the attacks on March 26, 2010 and Aug. 5, 2010) following Israel’s defensive operation in Gaza December 2008-January 2009. Israel holds Hamas responsible as the governing authority of the Gaza Strip.

Feb.1, 2009: About a dozen rockets and mortar bombs fired from Gaza struck Israel, wounding three Israelis. [25]

Feb. 3, 2009: A Grad rocket was launched at the city of Ashkelon. [26]

Feb. 28, 2009: An advanced Grad rocket hit a school in Ashkelon, destroying classrooms and spraying pieces of shrapnel in all directions. Two civilians were wounded in the attack. [27]

March 1, 2009: Twelve Qassam rockets were fired at the Israeli city of Sderot from Gaza. One rocket landed next to a private residence, causing property damage. [28]

May 19, 2009: a Kassam rocket exploded outside a Sderot home, causing damage and bringing to almost 685 the number of rockets and mortars that hit Israel since the beginning of 2009. [29]

May 22, 2009: Two armed Palestinian gunmen were killed after trying to plant explosives near Gaza’s security fence north of the Kerem Shalom Crossing. An IDF force crossed the fence and fired at the gunmen, who also began firing. The gunmen were killed, and IDF forces found explosive devices on the bodies as well as two AK-47 rifles, hand grenades and military vests. [30]

June 8, 2009: A group of Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an IDF force patrolling the Israeli side of Gaza’s security fence, north of the Nahal Oz fuel terminal. [31]

June 14, 2010: An Israeli police officer was shot dead in the West Bank and two others were wounded in the first fatal shooting attack on Israeli security in the area in more than a year. In July, Israeli security officials said they had arrested several members of Hamas’s military wing who were responsible for the attack. [32]

Sept. 20, 2009: IDF soldiers killed two Palestinian gunmen planting explosives along Gaza’s security fence. Approximately 715 Kassam rockets, mortar shells and Grad rockets were fired at Israel since the beginning of 2009. [33]

March 18, 2010: A 34-year-old Thai foreign worker was killed when a Kassam rocket hit an area in Netiv Ha'asara, a moshav in the Ashkelon coastal region that lies north of the Gaza Strip. [34]

March 26, 2010: Maj. Eliraz Peretz, 32, of Eli and Staff. Sgt. Ilan Sviatkovsky, 21, of Rishon Lezion were killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists planting explosives along the security fence in southern Gaza. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. [35]

July 30, 2010: A Grad rocket fired from Gaza landed in the city of Ashkelon, damaging a building. [36]

Aug. 31, 2010: Palestinian terrorists opened fire on an Israeli car in the West Bank, killing four passengers on the eve of a new round of a peace talks. Hamas took responsibility for the attack, which occurred near Hebron. [37]

Terrorist training camps in Iran (partial list):

1) Imam Ali Training Garrison, Tehran

2) Bahonar Garrison, near the dam of Karaj

3) Qom’s Ali-Abad Garrison, Tehran-Qom Highway

4) Mostafa Khomeini Garrison, Tehran

5) Crate Camp Garrison, 40 km from the Ahwaz-Mahshar Highway

6) Fateh Qani-Hosseini Garrison, between Tehran and Qom

7) Qayour Asli Garrison, 30 km from Ahwaz-Khorramshahr Highway

8) Abouzar Garrison, Qaleh-Shahin district, Ahwaz, Khuzestan province

9) Hezbollah Garrison, east of Tehran

10) Eezeh Training Garrison

11) Amir-ol-Momenin Garrison, Ilam province

12) Kothar Training Garrison, Khuzestan province

13) Imam Sadeq Garrison, Qom

14) Lavizan Training Centre, northeast Tehran

15) Abyek Training Centre, west of Tehran

16) Dervish Training Centre, 18 km from the Ahwaz-Mahshar Highway

17) Qazanchi Training Centre, Ravansar-Kermanshah-Kamyaran tri-junction

18) Beit-ol-Moqaddas University, Qom

19) Navab Safavi School, Ahwaz