A continuous series of rocket misfires by Hamas and Islamic Jihad has led to the deaths of several Palestinians since the commencement of the conflict between Israel and these Iran-backed terrorist groups earlier this month, according to a statement by an Israeli defense official.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari mentioned on Saturday that these groups are inadvertently causing harm to their own people. Hagari pointed out that approximately 20% of the rockets fired by Hamas and Islamic Jihad have missed their intended targets and struck Gaza instead, resulting in civilian casualties. This misfire rate accounts for over 550 rockets.
Hagari’s comments followed the incident involving al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City four days ago. An errant rocket struck the hospital, leading to numerous casualties. Initially, Hamas claimed that the hospital had been targeted by an Israeli strike, but after an investigation, Israel revealed that the hospital had been hit by a misfired missile launched by terrorists in Gaza.
The string of rocket misfires has been attributed by Joe Truzman, a research analyst for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal, to the challenges faced by Hamas and Islamic Jihad due to limited resources and materials.
Iran primarily supports several Palestinian armed groups, including these organizations, along with various other regional actors. However, the restrictions placed by Israel on the transfer of advanced weaponry from Iran to these groups have prompted Iran to equip them with the knowledge needed to produce their own weapons, such as rockets, mortars, and drones. Although this knowledge has its advantages in their conflict with Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad must work with the limited materials at their disposal.
As revealed in a chart from the IDF, there has been an increasing trend in the number of rockets launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad that fail upon launch and land within Gaza. Almost 13% of the rockets fired towards Israel on October 17th landed inside the densely populated Gaza Strip.
Hamas has come up with innovative methods to bolster their arsenal. They have utilized underground water pipes left behind following the evacuation of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip for constructing rockets. While this approach may be resourceful, it doesn’t guarantee the rockets’ effectiveness or their ability to reach their intended targets, as these weapons are produced by terrorist groups, lacking the sophistication of a developed arms industry.
The high number of rocket misfires can be attributed to the fact that these terrorist organizations have not yet perfected the process of producing efficient rockets with reliable materials.
Despite the tragic civilian casualties resulting from these misfires, the ongoing conflict between Israel and these terrorist groups continues to intensify, with significant casualties reported.