Rockets fired at Israel by Gaza-based terrorist organizations are increasingly falling short inside the Strip, according to Israel Defense Forces data released on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, some 12.7% of all projectiles launched by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad struck in the Gaza Strip, compared to just over 6% the previous day.
Since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 7.52% of rockets failed to reach Israeli territory, the IDF said on Wednesday, adding that it detected 450 misfires that led to “death and destruction in Gaza.”
“Rockets have been causing harm to Gazan civilians, in addition to Israeli civilians,” the military said. “Hamas is continuing to use the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields and does not hesitate to risk the lives of Gazan civilians for the purpose of attacking Israelis.”
Increase of failed Hamas/PIJ rocket launches inside the Gaza Strip; The Hamas terrorist organization continues to use civilians in the Gaza Strip as human shields and civilian compounds for military purposes >> pic.twitter.com/ZlYdkyKZzt
— דובר צה״ל אפי דפרין - Effie Defrin (@IDFSpokesperson) October 18, 2023
On Tuesday evening, an explosion rocked the courtyard of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. Hamas sources claimed it killed 471 Palestinians. Hamas and much of the Arab world immediately blamed Israel, accusing the IDF of deliberately striking the hospital.
However, no Israeli air force, ground or naval attacks were being carried out in the area at the time of the blast, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that based on the evidence he’d seen, the explosion was caused by an errant rocket fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group.
“I’m deeply saddened and outraged by the hospital blast, which appears to be done by the other team—not you,” Biden, who arrived in Israel to show support for Jerusalem’s war effort against Hamas, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hamas terrorists killed at least 1,400 Israelis and wounded more than 4,400 in a massive offensive launched from Gaza on Oct. 7, which included the firing of thousands of rockets at Israel and the infiltration of the Jewish state by terrorist forces.
Terrorists took at least 199 hostages from Israel to the Gaza Strip during the invasion, the IDF confirmed earlier this week.
Of the 4,475 people who have been wounded by Palestinian terrorists, 332 are currently hospitalized, per Israeli Health Ministry data. As of Wednesday, 61 of them are in critical condition while 167 remain in moderate condition.
Hamas’s murder rampage has seen Israel unleash unprecedented air power against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip as troops prepare for an expected ground operation.
“Since the beginning of the war, we have attacked thousands of targets,” Hagari said on Tuesday. On Monday alone, the IDF attacked more than 200 terrorist targets, the spokesman said.
In addition, Israeli security forces have arrested more than 440 suspected terrorists throughout Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley. Over 220 of them are Hamas operatives, the IDF said.
