Gaza by the Numbers

[david barrett]

On Dec. 27, Israel began "Operation Cast Lead" to stop Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza from continuing its years-long campaign of attacking Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets, missiles and mortars. Following are facts and figures to help journalists cover Israel’s defensive efforts in Gaza:

Iran-backed Hamas Rocket, Mortar Attacks and Nuclear Developments

9,400+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2003. [1]
3,200+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in 2008 alone. [2]
6,500+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. [3]
543+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israeli territory during the ceasefire from June 19 to Dec. 19, 2008. [4]
28 deaths caused by rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. The dead include Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire ended, Iran-backed Palestinian groups in Gaza fired rockets and mortars that killed an Israeli-Arab construction worker and a mother of four who was seeking shelter in a bus station as a rocket warning siren sounded. [5]
1,000+ people in Israel injured from rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2001, including Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire, 44 Israelis have been injured and 200 have been treated for shock. [6]
20,000 Hamas troops Israel is targeting as part of “Operation Cast Lead.” [7]
750,000 number of Israeli civilians Hamas is targeting and can reach. [8]
15 seconds Israelis have to get to a bomb shelter once a warning siren has sounded. [9]
8 years that Israel has been hit by rockets and mortars from Gaza [10]
3 mosques in Gaza used as weapons, ammunitions and explosives depots that were struck by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the operation in Gaza. [11]
4 UN Security Council resolutions passed since 2006 to try to stop Iran from enriching uranium. [12]
5,000+ number of centrifuges operating in Iran to enrich uranium, the material used to produce a nuclear weapon. [13]


Israel’s Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

179 truckloads of humanitarian aid that have been delivered through Israeli crossings into Gaza since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead, including basic food commodities, medication, medical supplies, donations of governments and blood units.
106 additional truckloads of humanitarian expected to arrive in Gaza on Jan. 31 [14]
6,500 tons of aid transported into Gaza at the request of international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead. The World Food Program informed Israel that it will cease shipment of food to Gaza because warehouses are at full capacity, with enough food to last two weeks. [15]


What Israel Gave Up in Hopes of Peace - Gaza Withdrawal Aug. 2005

100% proportion of the Gaza Strip evacuated and handed over to the
Palestinians. [16]
300 square miles of the West Bank evacuated. [17]
21 Israeli settlements uprooted in the Gaza Strip. [18]
4 Israeli settlements uprooted in the West Bank. [19]
48 graves uprooted in Gaza’s former Gush Katif Cemetery, including six graves of area residents murdered by terrorists. [20]
9,000 approximate number of Israelis, including 1,700 families, who lived in Gaza and the northern West Bank. All of them were moved out as part of the withdrawal. [21]
38 synagogues dismantled in the Gaza Strip. [22]
5,000 school-age children who had to find new schools. [23]
42 daycare centers that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [24]
36 kindergartens that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [25]
7 elementary schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [26]
3 high schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [27]
320 mobile homes, ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to serve as temporary housing for settlers. [28]
45,000 Israeli soldiers and policemen who participated in the Gaza withdrawal. [29]
$1.7 billion the approximate cost to the Israeli government for the withdrawal initiative. [30]
166 Israeli farmers who were moved out of Gaza. [31]
800 cows, which comprised the second largest dairy farm in Israel, moved out of Gaza’s Gush Katif community. [32]
$120 million value of flowers and produce exported annually from Gush Katif and lost following the evacuation. [33]
1 zoo, the “Katifari,” that housed hundreds of animals and was moved. [34]
10,000 people who were employed in agriculture and related industries in Gush Katif, including 5,000 Palestinians. [35]
60% proportion of Israel's cherry tomato exports that came from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza extinguished this economic resource. [36]
3.5 million square meters (almost 1,000 acres) of greenhouses abandoned in Gaza. [37]
70 percentage of Israel's organic produce grown in Gaza – another economic resource lost in the evacuation. [38]
60 percentage of herbs exported from Israel that came from Gush Katif. [39]
15 percentage of Israel agricultural exports that originated in Gaza – exports lost following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. [40]
$360,000 expected average compensation amount Israel expected to pay to relocate each family. [41]
$870 million approximate cost for Israel to facilitate the resettlement of former West Bank and Gaza residents elsewhere in the country. [42]
$500 million amount of money Israel's security establishment spent to relocate Israel Defense Forces bases outside the Gaza Strip and build new border crossing facilities. [43]


After Israel’s evacuation from Gaza…

430,000 West Bank Palestinians able to move freely within and between Palestinian-controlled areas. [44]
1 Israeli remaining in Gaza. Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit was abducted from Israel on June 25, 2006 by Hamas in a bloody cross-border raid in which the terrorists also killed two IDF soldiers and wounded four others. [45]
1.2 million Arabs who remained full and legal citizens of Israel. All Israeli citizens – Christians, Muslims, and Jews – have freedom of speech, religion, press, and the right to vote. [46]
1.3 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip many of them in Palestinian Authority-controlled refugee camps, who live under their own leaders. [47]
820,000 Jewish refugees forced to flee without their belongings from Arab countries between 1947 and 1949, and who have never been compensated by Arab governments for their losses. [48]
650,000 Arab refugees who left Israel from 1947-1949 and still need Palestinian leaders who will end terrorism and the culture of hate. [49]

Israel’s withdrawal from four northern West Bank settlements created an area more than twice the size of Gaza’s 140 square miles under Palestinian control and devoid of any Israeli presence. [50]

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Footnotes:

[1] IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Dec. 19, 2008; “Iran-backed Terrorists in Gaza Kill 3, Wound Others in Continuing Rocket Attacks on Israel,” The Israel Project press release, Dec. 29, 2008, http://www.theisraelproject.or.....ontent_id={4F0CF025-98BF-4875-A59B-B1F5E4B079F7}&notoc=1; Barzak, Ibrahim and Friedman, Matti, “Israel rejects truce call, pursues bombing Gaza,” Associated Press, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.google.com/hostedne.....gD95DQIEO0

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Presentation to Military Attaches,” Israel Ministry of Defense, Dec. 2008

[5] “Rocket and Mortar Fatalities in Israel,” The Israel Project backgrounder, http://www.theisraelproject.or.....srael.htm; Kershner, Isabel, “Despite Strikes, Israelis Vow to Soldier On,” The New York Times, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12.....l.html?em; “Iran-backed Terrorists in Gaza Kill 3, Wound Others in Continuing Rocket Attacks on Israel,” The Israel Project press release, Dec. 29, 2008, http://www.theisraelproject.or.....ontactinfo

[6] “Rocket and Mortar Fatalities in Israel,” The Israel Project backgrounder, http://www.theisraelproject.or.....srael.htm; Israeli Police Spokesman in a conversation with The Israel Project, Dec. 31, 2008

[7] Fletcher, Martin, “Analysis: What is Israel's end game in Gaza?” MSNBC.com, Dec. 29, 2008, http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com.....26211.aspx

[8] Meridor, Sallai, The Israel Project press conference with Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.theisraelproject.or.....ontent_id={F205EF2D-24F9-4EF2-B1E6-5CBAAFF0B26E}&notoc=1

[9] “IDF Operation in the Gaza Strip,” The Military-Strategic Information Section Daily Update – Day 4, Dec. 30, 2008

[10] “Israeli Injuries and Fatalities Due to Rocket and Mortar Fire,” The Israel Project, http://www.theisraelproject.or....._Graph.htm

[11] Information relayed by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Dec. 28, 2008; Harel, Amos, Issacharoff, Avi, Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press, “IAF bombs Gaza mosque being used as weapons storehouse,” Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051305.html

[12] “Security Council Tightens Restrictions on Iran’s Proliferation-Sensitive Nuclear Activities, Increases Vigilance Over Iranian Banks, Has States Inspect Cargo,” United Nations Security Council, 5848th Meeting, Department of Public Relations, March 3, 2008, http://un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9268.doc.htm

[13] Dareini, Ali Akbar, “Iran says it now runs more than 5,000 centrifuges,” AP, Nov. 26, 2008, http://www.google.com/hostedne.....wD94MND800

[14] Martin, Patrick, “Israel shoots down ceasefire proposal,” Globeandmail.com, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....onal/home; “FACTBOX-Countries pledge aid to Palestinians in Gaza,” Reuters, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article.....SLV538165; “Israel increases humanitarian effort to the Gaza Strip,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Gove.....c-2008.htm

[15] “12 Palestinians from Gaza transferred to Israeli hospitals for assistance and 2500 tons of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 2008

[16] Israeli Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan, June 6, 2004, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peac.....r+2005.htm

[17] “Israel’s Disengagement Plan,” American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Feb. 9, 2005, http://aipac.org/result.cfm?id=1749

[18] Israeli Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan, June 6, 2004, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peac.....r+2005.htm

[19] Ibid.

[20] Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, July 7, 2005; Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005

[21] Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, July 7, 2005

[22] “Engaging Disengagement,” The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005, http://www.jewishagency.org/Je...../Home/#did

[23] Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, “Israel to use 45,000 troops in Gaza, West Bank pullout,” Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2005

[24] “Engaging Disengagement,” The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005, http://www.jewishagency.org/Je...../Home/#did

[25] Ibid.

[26] Ibid.

[27] Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, “Israel to use 45,000 troops in Gaza, West Bank pullout,” Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2005

[28] Ibid.

[29] Klein, Zeev, “Haber: HCJ ruling will raise disengagement cost to NIS 500m,” Globes: Israel’s Business Arena, June 5, 2005

[30] Arrow, Minda Lee, “Gaza settler relocation: new progress, ongoing complications,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 15, 2005, http://www.washingtoninstitute.....p?CID=2326

[31] Lazaroff, Tovah, “Gush Katif dairy farmer has sleepless nights over cow remo(o)val” The Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2005

[32] Stahl, Julie, “Gaza farmers say government has no plan for them,” Cybercast News Service, April 11, 2005

[33] Ettinger, Yair, “Even the animals won’t leave Gaza early,” Haaretz newspaper, June 21, 2005, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/o.....mNo=590195

[34] “Israel,” Freedom House, July 6, 2005

[35] Ibid.

[36] Ibid.

[37] Ibid.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Ibid.

[40] Ibid.

[41] “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005, http://web.israelinsider.com/A.....s/5469.htm

[42] Ibid.

[43] Ibid.

[44] Ibid.

[45] Harel, Amos; Issacharoff, Avi; Haaretz Service and Reuters, "Two soldiers killed, one missing in raid on IDF post," Haaretz, June 25, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/730994.html

[46] Radler, David, “Refugees forever?” Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2005, http://info.jpost.com/C003/Sup.....index.html

[47] “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005, http://web.israelinsider.com/A.....s/5469.htm

[48] Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005

[49] Radler, David, “Refugees forever?” Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2005, http://info.jpost.com/C003/Sup.....index.html

[50] “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005, http://web.israelinsider.com/A.....s/5469.htm

[david barrett]

Update: Gaza by the Numbers


On Dec. 27, Israel began defensive operations to dismantle Iran-backed Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and stop the terrorist group from its 8-years-long campaign of attacking Israeli civilians with 10,000 rockets, missiles and mortars. [1]

Despite Hamas’s unrelenting rocket attacks, Israel continues to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, warning the civilian population to stay clear of terrorist sites. Said Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, "Israel has made it clear that we are fighting against terrorism, not the Gazan residents, and the extremists are the ones who are taking advantage of the concern of the humanitarian organizations and the international community as a means of pressuring Israel." [2]

Israel’s Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
396
truckloads of humanitarian aid that have been delivered through Israeli crossings into Gaza since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead, including basic food commodities, medication, medical supplies, blood units and donations by various governments and blood units. [3]

80
truckloads of humanitarian aid expected to arrive in Gaza on Jan. 5 [4]

20
Palestinians evacuated to Israel for medical treatment (including two children) [5]

800,000+
leaflets disseminated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to Gaza civilians instructing them to stay away from terrorist and weapons storage sites [6]

70+
times the IDF warned populated areas before conducting airstrikes [7]

10,000
tons of aid transported into Gaza at the request of international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead. The World Food Program informed Israel last week that that it would cease shipment of food to Gaza because warehouses are at full capacity, with enough food to last two weeks. [8]

0
wounded Palestinians allowed by Hamas to cross from Gaza into Egypt for treatment. [9]



Iran-backed Hamas Rocket, Mortar Attacks and Nuclear Developments
10,000+
rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2001. [10]

3,200+
rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in 2008 alone. [11]

6,500+
rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. [12]

538+
rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israeli territory during the ceasefire from June 19 to Dec. 19, 2008. [13]

480
rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel since Operation Cast Lead began Dec. 27. [14]

28
deaths caused by rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. The dead include Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire ended, Iran-backed Palestinian groups in Gaza fired rockets and mortars that killed an Israeli-Arab construction worker and a mother of four who was seeking shelter in a bus station as a rocket warning siren sounded. [15]

1,000+
people in Israel injured from rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2001, including Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the start of Israel’s defensive operation in Gaza Dec. 27, 90 Israelis have been injured and at least 244 have been treated for shock. [16]

20,000
Hamas terrorists Israel is targeting as part of its defensive operations [17]

1,000,000
Israeli civilians Hamas is targeting and can reach. [18]

15
seconds Israelis have to get to a bomb shelter once a warning siren has sounded. [19]

8
years Israel has endured rockets and mortar fire from Gaza [20]

3
mosques in Gaza used as weapons, ammunitions and explosives depots that were struck by the Israel Defense Forces during the operation in Gaza. [21] The strikes occurred only at night and never during prayer times, to avoid civilian casualties.

4
UN Security Council resolutions passed since 2006 to try to stop Iran from enriching uranium. [22]

5,000+
number of centrifuges operating in Iran to enrich uranium, the material used to produce a nuclear weapon. [23]



What Israel Gave Up in Hopes of Peace - Gaza Withdrawal Aug. 2005
100%
proportion of the Gaza Strip evacuated and handed over to the
Palestinians. [24]

300
square miles of the West Bank evacuated. [25]

21
Israeli settlements uprooted in the Gaza Strip. [26]

4
Israeli settlements uprooted in the West Bank. [27]

48
graves uprooted in Gaza’s former Gush Katif Cemetery, including six graves of area residents murdered by terrorists. [28]

9,000
approximate number of Israelis, including 1,700 families, who lived in Gaza and the northern West Bank. All of them were moved out as part of the withdrawal. [29]

38
synagogues dismantled in the Gaza Strip. [30]

5,000
school-age children who had to find new schools. [31]

42
daycare centers that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [32]

36
kindergartens that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [33]

7
elementary schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [34]

3
high schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [35]

320
mobile homes, ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to serve as temporary housing for settlers. [36]

45,000
Israeli soldiers and policemen who participated in the Gaza withdrawal. [37]

$1.7 billion
the approximate cost to the Israeli government for the withdrawal initiative. [38]

166
Israeli farmers who were moved out of Gaza. [39]

800
cows, which comprised the second largest dairy farm in Israel, moved out of Gaza’s Gush Katif community. [40]

$120 million
value of flowers and produce exported annually from Gush Katif and lost following the evacuation. [41]

1
zoo, the “Katifari,” that housed hundreds of animals and was moved. [42]

10,000
people who were employed in agriculture and related industries in Gush Katif, including 5,000 Palestinians. [43]

60%
proportion of Israel's cherry tomato exports that came from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza extinguished this economic resource. [44]

3.5 million
square meters (almost 1,000 acres) of greenhouses abandoned in Gaza. [45]

70
percentage of Israel's organic produce grown in Gaza – another economic resource lost in the evacuation. [46]

60
percentage of herbs exported from Israel that came from Gush Katif. [47]

15
percentage of Israel agricultural exports that originated in Gaza – exports lost following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. [48]

$360,000
expected average compensation amount Israel expected to pay to relocate each family. [49]

$870 million
approximate cost for Israel to facilitate the resettlement of former West Bank and Gaza residents elsewhere in the country. [50]

$500 million
amount of money Israel's security establishment spent to relocate Israel Defense Forces bases outside the Gaza Strip and build new border crossing facilities. [51]



After Israel’s evacuation from Gaza…
430,000
West Bank Palestinians able to move freely within and between Palestinian-controlled areas. [52]

1
Israeli remaining in Gaza. Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit was abducted from Israel on June 25, 2006 by Hamas in a bloody cross-border raid in which the terrorists also killed two IDF soldiers and wounded four others. [53]

1.2 million
Arabs who remained full and legal citizens of Israel. All Israeli citizens – Christians, Muslims, and Jews – have freedom of speech, religion, press, and the right to vote. [54]

1.3 million
Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip many of them in Palestinian Authority-controlled refugee camps, who live under their own leaders. [55]

820,000
Jewish refugees forced to flee without their belongings from Arab countries between 1947 and 1949, and who have never been compensated by Arab governments for their losses. [58]

650,000
Arab refugees who left Israel from 1947-1949 and still need Palestinian leaders who will end terrorism and the culture of hate. [57]



Israel’s withdrawal from four northern West Bank settlements created an area more than twice the size of Gaza’s 140 square miles under Palestinian control and devoid of any Israeli presence. [58]