Threat to Israel

What was the threat posed in general?

As noted above, Hamas's primary aim in the Gaza border events was to cause breaches in the security infrastructure, facilitate infiltrations en masse of violent mobs from Gaza into Israel, and to exploit these circumstances in order to allow Hamas operatives to penetrate into Israel and conduct attacks inside Israeli territory. Thus, the primary threat posed by these events was the killing, harming and abduction of Israeli civilians, as well as harm to residential and commercial areas and infrastructure inside Israel.

Infiltrations from Gaza into Israel also posed a threat to IDF forces and military infrastructure protecting these civilians.

Even without entering Israeli territory, attacks from the Gaza side of the security infrastructure posed a risk to civilian communities in the line of fire in these areas as well as to IDF forces and military infrastructure operating in this area.

Finally, these events created a continuous situation of tension in the already volatile Gaza arena, and carried the very real possibility of escalating the situation to largescale hostilities.

The following provides additional details regarding these threats. For information about the realization of these threats to date, see here. 

What was the threat to Israeli civilian communities and infrastructure in the vicinity of the Gaza border?

As noted above, during the Gaza border events, approximately 70,000 people resided in the area of southern Israel that abuts the Gaza Strip, in approximately 80 residential areas (of which three civilian communities of almost 1,500 residents lie directly across the border from Gaza, and another 22 communities lie within four kilometers in addition to the city of Sderot of approximately 30,000 residents). This area also includes schools and other education centers, tourist sites, nature reserves, commercial centers, industrial factories and national infrastructure (including chemical plants and power stations).

Infiltration en masse into Israel posed a real and direct threat to these communities. Attacks against individuals, lynches and abductions, as well as the overrunning of buildings and residential areas were real possibilities by persons incited to violence and with the means to carry it out. The same applies for damage to national and commercial infrastructure.

Damage to the security infrastructure and its technology also left communities more exposed to infiltrations and attacks until repairs could be made by the IDF.

These communities were also under the threat of attack by operatives, belonging to Hamas or to other terrorist organizations, conducted through exploiting breaches in the security infrastructure and the ensuing chaos of having masses of civilians infiltrating into Israeli territory.

Besides Hamas, other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip possessed the capabilities to infiltrate into Israel and carry out attacks. In February 2019, these groups have published videos displaying their military activities in the border area and demonstrating their capabilities to execute cross-border attacks above ground, below ground and via the sea. See example here. 

In addition, due to their vicinity to the Gaza border and exposure to line of fire, these communities were under constant threat of sniper fire, anti-tank fire and other ground-to-ground missiles aimed towards them.

What was the threat to Israel beyond the vicinity of the Gaza border?

Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip possessed both the intent and the means to carry out military attacks deep inside Israeli territory. This posed a threat both to the Israeli civilian population in general as well as to national and commercial infrastructure in Israel.

The use of incendiary and explosive airborne devices during the events has endangered the lives of Israelis within their range and caused extensive damage to the nature, ecology and economy of southern Israel through fast-spreading fires.

The Gaza border events also carried the very real threat of escalating into large-scale hostilities. As noted above, Hamas had much of its military arsenal primed and ready for use during the events, and was expected to activate supporting military efforts in the event of a successful penetration by operatives into Israel, as has occurred in past infiltrations by Hamas operatives into Israel.

Despite the ongoing and serious attacks against Israel throughout the Gaza border events (between 2018-2019), Israel has refrained from responding to these violent riots with a largescale military operation. Nevertheless, the possibility of largescale hostilities, which did not materialized during that time, was very real.

To clarify, the May 2021 Gaza conflict did not emanate from the Gaza border events.

What was the threat to soldiers and military infrastructure defending the border?

During the violent riots and attacks in the Gaza border area, various means have been used to attack IDF forces tasked with defending Israel and its citizens, including grenades and other improvised explosive devices (including military-grade explosives), ball bearings and other projectiles launched by high-velocity slingshots and other launch platforms, rifles and snipers.

Booby-trapped explosive devices and mines were also laid along the fenceline under the cover of the violent riots with delayed detonation devices. These attacks posed a direct threat to the lives and safety of IDF forces operating in the border area.

Attacks were also carried out against military infrastructure intended to prevent and reduce military threats emanating from the Gaza Strip. Attacks on the fence left holes in the security infrastructure whose purpose is to defend Israel from attacks emanating from Gaza. Moreover, every particular instance of damage to a point in the fence could also result in the technology for an entire sector of the fence being rendered ineffective, due to the interconnected nature of this technology. This threat is not limited just to the time of the violent riots and attacks themselves, but remains until each sector of the fence is fixed or replaced by IDF forces.

Damage has also been caused to engineering equipment and machinery in the Gaza border area which was being used to install underground technology for detecting cross-border tunneling into Israel, thus impairing Israel’s efforts to protect its civilians from this strategic threat.

The use of incendiary and explosive kites and balloons also posed a direct threat to the lives of IDF forces, as well as to military infrastructure in the vicinity.