September 2010 saw more missile and mortar attacks against Israel by Gaza terrorists than any other month since the period immediately following IDF Operation Cast Lead in early 2009. The motivation for the attacks appears to be Hamas's intent to disrupt negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The IDF Website reported that a total of 30 missiles and shells were fired in September 2010. These included 14 short-range 'Kassam' rockets, 15 mortar shells and one Grad medium range missile. This was more than double the 13 launches that were recorded in the preceding month of August.
To date, there have been 163 launches of projectiles against Israel in 2010. Of these, 106 were Kassams, 50 mortar shells and seven were Grads.
Despite the September peak, the total numbers for 2010 are – for now – lower than those of any other year since routine Gazan rocket attacks on Israel began in 2002. All in all, terrorists have fired 11,293 rockets at Israel in almost nine years.
These attacks increased in 2003 and in 2004 – a year in which there were over 1,500 launches – and then decreased sharply in 2005, the year in which Israel carried out its “Disengagement” from Gaza.
In 2006 the rocket attacks began to climb sharply again, surpassing 3,000 in 2008. In late 2008, the IDF launched counter-terrorist Operation Cast Lead. Following the military operation, missile attacks fell sharply. The statistics appear on the IDF blog.
