Israeli town hall against a background of pictures of residents killed in rocket attacks|thumb|right The introduction of the Qassam rocket was unexpected by Israeli politicians and military experts, and reactions have been mixed. In 2006, the
Israeli Ministry of Defense viewed the Qassams as "more a psychological than physical threat." A 2008 study found that over half of
Sderot's residents have been hurt, either physically or psychologically, by the use of Qassams. The Israel Defense Forces has reacted to the deployment of the Qassam rockets by deploying the
Red Color early warning system in Sderot, Ashkelon, and other potential targets placed at risk. The system consists of an advanced radar that detects rockets as they are being launched, and loudspeakers warn civilians to take cover between 15 and 45 seconds before impact in an attempt to minimize the threat posed by the rockets. A system called
Iron Dome, designed to intercept the rockets before they can hit their targets, has been in use since March 2011. A system based on lasers (
Nautilus) was researched in a joint Israeli-American project in the early 2000s, but was discontinued. An online clock timer, developed by Aaron Friedman and Yehonatan Tsirolnik, that automatically resets when Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel occur uses information from the IDF Home Front Command system and counts time up from the last Palestinian rocket attack on Israel. It displays how long Israel has been rocket-free and shows the summed-up total numbers of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. "Israel has been under non-stop rocket attacks for years (..) Whenever a rocket is fired, it restarts. Sadly, this counter never really gets above an hour", Friedman said on July 18, 2014, during the
2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.
Palestinian In 2012, Palestinian president
Mahmoud Abbas stated "There is no justification for rockets from Gaza or anywhere else," adding that "Rocket attacks are in vain because they do not bring peace any closer."
Human rights groups Amnesty International labeled Palestinian groups' use of rockets during the
2014 Gaza war as a "war crime", stating that "Palestinian armed groups operating in the Gaza Strip fired thousands of indiscriminate rockets and mortars into Israel; firing munitions which cannot be aimed accurately into civilian areas is a war crime, and statements by Hamas and Palestinian armed groups also indicates that some attacks were intended to kill or injure civilians." Amnesty additionally "has documented that Palestinian armed groups have stored munitions in and fired indiscriminate rockets from residential areas in the Gaza Strip, and available evidence indicates that they continue to do both during the
current hostilities, in violation of
international humanitarian law (..) Under international humanitarian law, (..) Parties to the conflict must also take necessary precautions to protect civilians in their power from the effects of attack. This includes avoiding, to the maximum extent feasible, co-locating military objectives in the vicinity of densely populated civilian neighbourhoods. This means the parties should avoid endangering civilians by storing ammunition in, and launching attacks from, populated civilian areas."
Human Rights Watch has called the use of Qassam rockets by Hamas against civilians and civilian targets illegal under international law. In a 2005 statement, the group said that "such weapons are therefore indiscriminate when used against targets in population centers. The absence of Israeli military forces in the areas where rockets have hit, as well as statements by leaders of Palestinian armed groups that population centers were being targeted, indicate that the armed groups deliberately attacked Israeli civilians and civilian objects." In another 2005 statement, the group noted that as the ruling authority of Gaza, Hamas was obligated to uphold the laws of war and should appropriately punish those responsible for serious violations". The international community considers indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian structures that do not discriminate between civilians and military targets as
illegal under international law. : ==See also==