A summary of the official report follows below.

Israel Foreign Minister Livni stated on Feb. 26, 2008: "Terror continues to emanate from Gaza. Only yesterday another Israeli child was wounded by Kassam rocket fragments. Israel is at the forefront of the struggle against extremists, but they are waging war on the entire Western world. Anyone who believes that turning a blind eye will stop them does not understand that terror can strike at his own country. Israel will continue to fight terror from Gaza as long as is necessary. The world must understand the nature of Hamas as a terror organization with an extreme Islamic ideology, and continue to delegitimize it. This is an important element in the struggle against Hamas and the terror it produces."

Prime Minister Olmert to Cabinet on Feb. 17, 2008: "There is an almost daily war in the south and terrorist leaders are certainly a target. We will not slacken on this issue and we will continue to struggle in order to reduce to nil the threat that is upsetting the quality of life of residents of the south. Of course, there are also other measures that we are using, including sanctions and striking at the supply of materials that could serve the terrorist organizations, including energy, and this is being carried out according to the decision of the Cabinet, in coordination with the considerations of the security establishment at the behest of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, with my assent."

Prime Minister Olmert to Cabinet on Feb. 10, 2008: "Sderot and the communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip were attacked over the weekend, but especially yesterday, with dozens of missiles and rockets. This assault came in response to very aggressive, vigorous and comprehensive action by the IDF and the security forces, which killed and wounded many Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorists... There is no doubt that the pain is felt by all; the outrage is natural. But it must be clear that outrage is not a plan for action. We must act in a systematic and orderly fashion over time. This is what we are doing. This is what we will continue to do. We will continue to reach all the responsible terrorists including those who dispatch and operate them." (full text)

Foreign Minister Livni to the press (Feb. 10, 2008): "An eight-year old child lost a leg today and the doctors are trying to save the other one, while his brother, severely injured, is in the same hospital with other members of the same family. The world cannot dismiss this by simply saying that there are casualties on both sides. This is not a just comparison. Israeli families, are being targeted, deliberately, on a daily basis from the Gaza Strip by Hamas and other terrorist organizations that control the Gaza Strip... This is not a vicious cycle; this can be stopped by Hamas today. Israel is acting according to its duty and responsibility to defend its citizens. The deliberate attacks on Israeli civilians must be stopped." (full text)

Foreign Minister Livni at UN Model Feb.10, 2008): "An Israeli child who suffers terror-inflicted injuries is not similar to a civilian who is injured unintentionally by defensive measures anchored in international law." (full text)

Israeli representative at the UN Security Council (Jan. 22, 2008): "Why is the Council not concerned with the safety and security of Israel’s children, women, and elderly who live in the southern city of Sderot? Why is the Council silent as they live in fear and panic each and every day? With Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip and its rocket launchers pointed at Sderot, Israel faces an impossible situation. Israel must and will protect its civilian population from these rocket attacks. It is the duty of all States to ensure the right to life and safety of its people, especially from vicious acts of violence and terrorism that are carried out with the sole purpose of maiming, terrorizing, and murdering the innocent." (full text)

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Sept. 3, 2007): "Rocket barrages have once again been launched on Sderot. They threatened the wellbeing of kindergarten children in this rocket-battered town, which has been exposed to the terror groups' brutality for over five years. We will not put up with this attack. The IDF has been instructed to destroy all launchers and target anyone involved in the attacks. We will hit all those in the chain of command who harbor terrorists and act against the State of Israel."

Selected statements made by Hamas leaders

Ahmed Yousef, chief political advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to "Der Spiegel" (Feb. 2, 2008): "If the Israelis want our blood, I’m willing to sacrifice my children."

Ahmed Yousef, chief political advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, regards knocking down the Rafah wall as the greatest success Hamas has scored since winning the parliamentary elections two years ago. Speaking from his Gaza City office, Yousef said he has received phone calls from around the world congratulating him on the action - including from self-appointed emissaries of European governments. “Hamas is once again a player to be reckoned with,” exulted Yousef.

Ahmed Yousef would like to pull off another Rafah-style exploit, but this time against the Palestinians' archenemy, Israel. He is planning a mass march to the Erez border crossing in northern Gaza. "We’re going to send half a million people there, mainly women and children. Then we’ll see how the Israelis react," he says. A devilish scheme, since the Israelis would not react as passively to the storming of their border as the Egyptians did. But Yousef is not impressed by such objections. "If the Israelis want our blood, I’m willing to sacrifice my children."

Yousef has already asked international observers to participate in the "march on Erez." Some have already agreed to come, and Yousef is happy about this. "This," he says, "is the beginning of the third Intifada."

From interview with former Hamas foreign minister Mahmoud A-Zahar (Aug. 21, 2007): Rocket barrage of Sderot is Hamas strategy. The interviewer asked why Hamas chose to stop suicide bombings two years ago.

A-Zahar: "Which do you think is more effective, martyrdom operations or rockets against Sderot? Rockets against Sderot will cause mass migration, greatly disrupt daily lives and government administration and can make a much huger impact on the government. We are using the methods that convince the Israelis that their occupation is costing them too much. We are succeeding with the rockets. We have no losses and the impact on the Israeli side is so much." Source: Conflict Blotter - News, analysis and original reporting on the Middle-East. Conflict Blotter is written by Charles Levinson, currently Mideast correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph.

Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip continue to fire Kassam rockets and mortar shells at Sderot and the western Negev.

After returning home from school on Monday afternoon (Feb.25), 10-year-old Yossi Haimov of Sderot and his 8-year-old sister Maria went to visit a friend and went out to play in the backyard.

Maria related how Yossi was wounded by a Kassam rocket: "We heard the Color Red (alert system), quickly ran and hid, there was a small 'boom', and when we came out there was a strong explosion. We hid near the wall and the shrapnel hit Yossi in the shoulder."

"We both quickly ran to a grocery store, screaming. The grocery store owner called for an ambulance and they took Yossi to the hospital. Yossi didn't cry, he only kept telling me that it hurts. All I remember is that there was a lot of smoke, and when I saw Yossi's shoulder with blood I could see that his entire sholder was broken."

After surgery, Dr. Ron Lobel informed Yossi's parents them that the doctors had managed to save their son's arm.

Ynet - Sderot's war children: "A child who attempted to live the routine life of a normal childhood in the midst of an abnormal and never-ending war routine almost paid by losing his arm."

Jerusalem Post: "While television cameras were pointed westward to capture the Gaza protest that failed to live up to expectations, a 10-year-old Sderot boy was seriously hurt while playing outside with his sister as the town faced another day of Kassam rocket fire."

Osher Twito, 8, unconscious and severely wounded by a Kassam rocket attack on Sderot, is transferred to Tel Hashomer Hospital due to the severity of his wounds, after one of his legs was amputated.

Eight-year-old Osher Twito and his brother Rami, 19, were seriously wounded when a Kassam rocket fired by Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip exploded as they were walking on a street in Sderot on Saturday evening (9 Feb). They were evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, where Osher underwent extensive surgery and doctors were forced to amputate one of his legs. Rami is recovering from surgery. Their mother Iris and another brother were treated for shock. Osher's father, Rafi, said, "He is just an eight-year-old kid. A child who should be playing football, riding his bike. How can such a child live with an amputated leg, with his entire life ahead of him?" The Al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad's military wing claimed responsibility for the attack. In Gaza, terrorists celebrated their "success", as gunmen from the Al-Quds Brigades fired in the air and broadcasted victory messages from mosque loudspeakers. Hamas annoucned that since last Tuesday ( Feb. 5), its own operatives have fired 154 rockets and mortars at Israel.

A Kassam rocket fired from northern Gaza landed near a kindergarten in a kibbutz in the western Negev on Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 6) as the children were being taken home. Tchelet, age 2, sustained shrapnel injuries to her leg and her mother suffered from shock. Yardena, 12, was injured in the shoulder. (Ynet report)

At 8:00, as children were arriving by bus at the Shkamim Maoz elementary school in Sderot, the Color Red alert sounded. The driver and children ran for cover. Three children, frozen in panic, stood screaming in the middle of the road. Two adults picked them up and carried them to shelter. During the next half hour, about ten Kassam rockets landed on Sderot. One struck the home of bus driver Eli Cohen, inflicting extensive damage, while his mother and sister were sheltering in the reinforced room.

IDF Home Front: Due to the massive Kassam rocket fire from Gaza, approximately 100 officers and soldiers have been accompanying children to schools and kindergartens. Vehicles are patrolling the city while soldiers are positioned at bus stations and on rides that deliver students to school. More than 100 rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip at communities in southern Israel during 24 hours (Jan. 15-16), most targeting Sderot, where the Color Red siren was sounded 14 times on Tuesday. Toward nightfall, a rocket hit a power line and city residents remained in the dark until it was repaired.

A Grad Katyusha missile fired from northern Gaza landed near a tennis court in a southern Ashkelon neighborhood.

At least ten people, including a 5-year-old girl, sustained shrapnel wounds. Lior Ben Schimmel, 5, was at her neighbor's house playing with their children when the attack occurred. The girl's father, Yaron, said, "I heard an explosion and saw a Kassam had hit the neighbor's house. I ran to the house and saw my daughter drenched in blood." He said his daughter had already been given psychological help to cope with the stress of living under constant attack.

An Iranian-produced 122mm Grad Katyusha rocket fired from Gaza (January 3, 2008) landed in the northern part of the coastal city of Ashkelon, where a new neighborhood is under construction. No injuries or damage were reported. This is the third time that a rocket launched from Gaza hits Ashkelon. In the two previous incidents, rockets landed near the city's port and hit a local school.PM Olmert: The firing of a long-range rocket at Ashkelon constitutes an intensification and escalation in terrorism perpetrated by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.

A Kassam rocket scored a direct hit on a home in Sderot on December 13, 2007, moderately wounding the mother of the family who was hurled against the wall by the blast. The house suffered extensive damage. About 20 Kassam rockets struck the western Negev the previous morning (12 Dec), several hours before the launching of the post-Annapolis bilateral talks. Eight people were lightly wounded. At 12:00 on Thursday (Dec.20) a Kassam rocket fired from Gaza exploded outside an elementary school in Sderot. Eighteen people were treated for trauma, including ten children.

On November 19, 2007, shortly before midnight an IDF observation force identified a three-man terrorist squad attempting to scale the security fence between Palestinian and Israeli territory with the intention of infiltrating the community of Netiv Ha'asara. In the ensuing exchange of fire two of the terrorists were killed and the third wounded. The terrorists had rifles and hand grenades in their possession, as well as a ladder which they planned to use to cross the fence.

A Kassam rocket fired by Palestinians in north Gaza (Nov.11, 2007) hit a dairy barn in Kibbutz Zikim in the western Negev, killing six cows and injuring several others, and causing severe damage to the structure.

On Oct.30 2007 Israeli war planes attacked a terrorist position in the southern Gaza Strip in response to rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel. Mortars landed in Netiv Ha'asara, where a grandmother and baby granddaughter were in the living room of a house that was hit, narrowly escaping injury.

A day earlier (Oct.29), IDF aircraft captured on film three terrorists preparing and then launching the mortars at Israel from an UNRWA school yard in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.

Five Kassams were fired at the western Negev on Wednesday evening (Oct. 24, 2007), one landing in Sderot near a WIZO day care center. Two people suffer from shock. Immediately afterwards IAF aircraft fired a missile at Palestinians launching Kassam rockets at Israel near the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, killing two terrorists.

On Oct.23, 2007, a Kassam rocket fired from northern Gaza landed near a strategic installation in the southern industral zone in Ashkelon. No injuries were reported. The Al-Quds Companies, Islamic Jihad's military wing, claimed responsibility for the act.

On Oct.7 2007, Palestinian terrorists in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip fired a Grad missile, which landed near the southern Israeli town of Netivot - about 15 km inside Israeli territory. The 122 mm Grad heavy artillery rocket, apparently produced in the former Soviet Union and smuggled into Gaza from Egypt, is an improved version of the infamous Katyusha rocket recently used by the Hizbullah to bombard northern Israel from Lebanese territory. The use of this weapon marks a significant escalation in the Palestinian campaign of terror against Israeli civilians, both in the range of the missile and the destructive force of the missile's warhead.

On the eve of the Sukkot holiday (Sept.26) a particularly high number of rocket and mortar attacks was recorded: nine rockets and 22 mortar shells.

69 Israeli soldiers were wounded when a Kassam rocket launched from the area of the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza landed at an IDF basic training base near Kibbutz Zikkim in the western Negev at around 1:30 am ( September 11). The rocket landed directly on an empty mess tent used in the daytime. Soldiers sleeping in adjacent tents were wounded by shrapnel. One IDF soldier was critically wounded, four seriously wounded, seven moderately wounded and 57 lightly wounded.

The Salah a-Din Brigades - the military arm of the Public Resistance Committees - and the Islamic Jihad both claimed responsibility for the attack. Islamic Jihad operatives celebrated the attack in their mosques in Gaza later Tuesday morning.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, speaking on Hamas radio, praised the rocket attack on an Israeli army base, calling it a "victory from God": "We consider this a victory from God for the resistance. We consider the resistance as the legitimate right of the Palestinians to defend themselves and restore their rights."

A Kassam rocket fired from Gaza landed near a high school in Sderot Thursday afternoon (September 6). A house was slightly damaged in the attack. Another rocket landed in a field outside town.

At 7:50 Monday morning (September 3) when thousands of children were on their way to school, Kassam rockets were fired at Sderot. One landed in a courtyard between a day care center and an elementary school. Twelve children, who were on their way to school, suffered from shock and were evacuated to Ashkelon for treatment. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks, calling them "a gift for the opening of the school year."

Israel submits protest on Kassam attacks to UN (Sept.4).

A Kassam rocket launched from the northern Gaza Strip landed directly on the bedroom of a house in Sderot (August 28). The residents had heard the alarm and entered their secure room before the rocket struck. A passerby was moderately wounded in the eye by shrapnel, and several were treated for shock.

Eight Kassam rockets landed in Sderot and the Negev area (August 23). One hit the Timsit family home in Sderot. Family members, who heard the Color Red alarm, were in the secure room when the rocket smashed through the living room's ceiling, and were not harmed. Two women were treated for anxiety. The Al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing, claimed responsibility.

Palestinian terror groups launched a Kassam rocket from northern Gaza (August 21), which landed in a factory near the town of Sderot. No injuries were reported but damage was caused to the factory.

Palestinians in north Gaza fired two Kassams toward Israel (August 21). One rocket struck a vacant Na'amat daycare center in the western Negev city of Sderot, causing slight damage to the building. A woman living nearby suffered from shock as a result of the attack. The daycare center was empty during the August summer holiday. The second Kassam landed near a gas station outside the city.

Two Kassam rockets landed near a western Negev kibbutz (August 19). There were no reports of injuries. The Islamic Jihad's military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility. Three mortar shells were later fired from the northern Strip, landing in an open area near Kibbutz Kissufim. Earlier Sunday, two Kassam rockets landed in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council in the southern western Negev.

Palestinians gunmen (August 17) fired three Kassam rockets and 12 mortar shells from the northern Gaza Strip toward southern Israel. The al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. One rocket landed near Sderot. Another rocket hit a kibbutz south of Asheklon. A third rocket launched several minutes later landed near a community in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.

IDF footage from November 15 shows a terrorist cell setting up Kassam launchers on a dirt embankment in northern Gaza near a busy intersection. After army intelligence confirmed the men were not civilians, the IDF launched its first attack against the cell, wounding several of its members. As the remaining terrorists attempt to flee the scene the army launches its second strike, killing all four of the cell members and destroying the rocket launchers.

Joint IDF ground troops operating in northern Gaza on September 5 uncovered four Kassam rockets ready for launch, in a civilian industrial zone near Beit Hanoun, adjacent to a cow shed. Seven more launchers were uncovered later in the day.

On October 12 , an IDF force exposed and seized seven Kassam rocket launchers on the outskirts of Beit Hanoun.

Statistics of Kassam rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip

Since the Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in mid-June 2007 until February 19 2008, 816 rockets and 897 mortar bombs have been fired at Sderot and the western Negev.

From Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip in mid-August 2005 until the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip 1,826 missiles were fired into Israeli territory from Gaza, as follows:

15 August - 31 December 2005: 2701
January - 31 December 2006: 10201
January - 14 June 2007: 536

Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip continues as the preferred modus operandi of the Palestinian terrorist organizations. Most of the rockets are locally manufactured and have an approximate maximum range of 9 kilometers (6 miles), although some have a range of 12.5 kilometers (7 ¾ miles). In addition, also launched were a number of standard 122 mm rockets with a range of 20.4 kilometers (12 2/3 miles) which had been smuggled into the Gaza Strip.

Since the disengagement there has been a sharp increase in the number of rockets launched at the western Negev. (Until the disengagement, massive rocket fire was aimed at the Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.) The preferred targets during 2006 were the city of Sderot and civilians living in settlements in the western Negev, although attempts were made to launch rockets as far away as Ashkelon.

In 2006, 861 rockets were fired at population centers in the western Negev, as compared with 222 in 2005 and 268 in 2004 (not including rockets fired at Israeli settlements inside the Gaza Strip).

In May 2007, Palestinians launched some 300 Kassam rockets from Gaza at Sderot and the western Negev. Hamas openly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Note: Rocket or mortar shell fire is defined as an event, during which a launch is tracked and the hit is clearly identified as falling in Israeli territory. It is also defined as an event during which a launch from the Gaza Strip is tracked and an explosion is heard, even if the location of the hit is not clearly identified. The actual number of rockets launched may be at least 20% greater than the number of hits identified.

2008

Israel protests Kassam rockets and terror attacks to UN.

Rocket threat from the Gaza Strip, 2000-2007 .

Israel issues complaints to UN on Kassam rocket fire (Dec 2007)

Terrorists fire mortar shells from boys school in Gaza.

Security Cabinet declares Gaza hostile territory. Statements by Foreign Minister Livni regarding Israeli policy towards Hamas.