The IDF published on Tuesday the names of Palestinian civilians who helped facilitate terrorist rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip into Israel during the latest round of violence in the Palestinian enclave earlier this month.
According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, at least two such rockets that were fired from private properties of civilians who cooperated with the Islamic Jihad terrorist group fell short within Gaza.
Rockets fired from private property in Gaza
(Video: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
One of the Islamic Jihad misfires crashed in the city of Jabaliya at 9:03am on August 7, killing two civilians. The location from which the missile was fired is owned by the Gaza City municipality, headed by Dr. Yahya al-Sarraj.
“Sarraj chose to take care of the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad more than the residents of the city he heads, and abused public space which belongs to the residents of the city for terror. This is how he harmed his citizens directly,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
Another rocket that fell within the Gaza Strip was fired from property belonging to Bakr Hamadan Imran Shamalh, whose brother is a trainer in Islamic Jihad's marine force.
"He facilitated a failed rocket launch from his property, which hit a civilian building in Gaza City and was broadcast live on [Lebanese] Al Mayadeen channel at 3:13pm," the military said.
The Hamadan Imran Shamalh family took an active part in terrorist activity by allowing the firing of rockets from areas owned by them, causing harm to Gazan civilians. The terrorist groups in Gaza cynically abuse its civilians and fire rockets from urban areas, and this is another proof of that.”
According to IDF data, over 200 of the 1,100 missiles fired by Islamic Jihad during the 55 hours of the conflict fell short within Gaza, nearly one of every five rockets.
Some rockets crashed within populated areas, killing at least 14 uninvolved civilians, among them children, and injuring more than 100, according to the IDF.
The IDF maintains that most Palestinian civilian casualties during Operation Breaking Dawn were the result of Gaza rockets. Military officials familiar with the details attribute this statistic to Islamic Jihad's inferior rocket manufacturing capbilities compared to Gaza rulers Hamas, who stayed out of this most recent campaign.
“A part of Islamic Jihad’s rockets are simply road signs its operatives tore down, stuffed with improvised explosives and turned into makeshift rockets, often based off of video tutorials on YouTube," the officials said.
“Just as we’re improving from one round to the other, so does the enemy, and we can’t underestimate it, but in this case, the rockets are easy to make, without standards, that are often made in an amateurish and dangerous fashion.”
Footage from Gaza of launches that circulated recently, some taken by civilians, shows rockets deviating from their trajectory and crashing to the ground shortly after.
There are no air raid sirens in Gaza to warn civilians of incoming rockets.
Gaza terrorist factions, unlike the IDF, do not employ what Israel terms "roof knocking" — the practice of dropping non-explosive or low-yield devices on the roofs of targeted civilian homes as a prior warning of imminent bombing attacks to give the inhabitants time to flee.
Furthermore, most rockets are stored in and fired from the heart of densely populated areas which often harms nearby civilians.