In Numbers: Israel’s Geography and the Impact of Hamas’ Rockets

Since May 10, over 3,700 rockets have been fired by Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip at Israeli population centers, with some 500 falling short and landing inside the coastal enclave.

While the conflict has dominated the headlines for almost two weeks, it is seemingly no accident that virtually none of the reporting on Israel’s battle to protect its citizens from Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad has included basic facts related to the Jewish state’s minuscule size and how this impacts Jerusalem’s decision-making process.

This is why the Gaza rockets pose an imminent threat to Israel.

1. Israel is the Middle East’s New Jersey: The total area of the State of Israel is 22,145 square kilometers (8,630 sq. miles). The Jewish state is thus geographically insignificant in comparison to most other countries. Israel’s size is more comparable to New Jersey, the fifth smallest US state, or Belgium, one of Europe’s smaller countries.
   
2. Widest Point: Israel is some 420 km (261 miles) in length and about 115 km (71.5 miles) across at its widest point. In other words, the entire country can be traversed in about the same amount of time it takes to drive from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC to the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore, Maryland: 49 minutes by car.
   
3. Narrowest Point: The Jewish state at its narrowest point shrinks down to just 15 km (9 miles). This is half the distance between Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, which are both located in London, UK.
4. Distance Between Gaza and Tel Aviv: Close to 200 rockets have been hurled from the Gaza Strip at Israel’s financial hub. Palestinian terrorists are separated from the approximately 440,000 people living in Tel Aviv by a mere 69.83 km (43.39 miles), the same distance from Toronto to the Niagara Falls.
5. From Gaza to Jerusalem: Israel’s capital city, home to the country’s parliament (the Knesset), as well the Western Wall and sites sacred to Muslims and Christians alike, is also well within rocket range. Gaza and the Knesset are 76.3 km (47.4 miles) apart, while Israel’s holiest site is 78.8 km (49.96 miles) away. The approximate distance from New York City to Long Island is about 50 miles (80.46 km).
6. Israelis Living in the ‘Gaza Envelope’: For years, the 60,000 residents of the Israeli communities near Gaza have faced consistent physical threats and injuries, damage to infrastructure, community-wide trauma and death as a result of Palestinian terrorism. It would be as if the good people of Bismark, North Dakota, or Carson City, Nevada had to live in constant fear of being bombed.
7. ‘Gaza Envelope’ Radius: The term describes the populated areas of Israel that are within 7 km (4.3 miles) of the Gaza border and are therefore within range of mortar shells and Qassam rockets launched from the Gaza Strip. This distance isn’t much more than that separating two Paris tourist sites, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame.
8. Katyusha Rockets: Updated versions of old Soviet-era Grad or Katyusha rockets made it possible for Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups to hit Israeli targets that are up to 40 km (25 miles) from Gaza. This may sound like a lot, but it’s essentially the distance covering the world’s oldest annual running race, the Boston Marathon. The historic course starts on Main Street in the rural New England town of Hopkinton and ends on Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts.
9. Statue of Liberty: Hamas has continued to upgrade its weaponry. The rulers of the Gaza Strip now have rockets that can reach 250 km (155 miles). That is but the distance from the Statue of Liberty to the smallest US state, Rhode Island.
10. One-Hour Train Ride: Another way to get a good idea about the extent to which the Gaza conflict is affecting every Israeli is to remember that it takes less than an hour to drive from Tel Aviv to the southern city of Sderot, located in the ‘Gaza Envelope.’ That’s roughly the amount of time it takes to get from one end of Los Angeles to the other on the city’s Metrolink train.

If people looking to learn about the escalation of violence would be exposed to the truth, they would soon realize that the depiction of Israel as an “aggressor“ does not accord with the reality on the ground. By not relaying this information to their readers, the world’s leading news organizations are watering down the growing threat Hamas presents to an increasing number of Israeli citizens.

Case in point: On May 13 a Hamas rocket fell near Israel’s southernmost city, Eilat, making it the longest-range projectile ever fired by the Palestinian terror group into the Jewish state.

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