Rockets are launched toward Israel from Gaza City on May 11, 2021. Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP

Israel estimates that at least 20 Palestinian civilians have been killed as a result of errant rockets fired by the Hamas terrorist group that fell short and landed in the Gaza Strip.

“Many Palestinian civilians have been hit by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets,” said a senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer. “This is a double war crime we hardly hear about. Hamas is using people in Gaza as human shields, launching rockets indiscriminately at Israel from civilian areas to civilians.”

According to the senior military officer, since the beginning of operation Guardian of the Walls — which was started ten days ago — a total of 700 rockets launched by the Hamas failed to hit Israel and landed inside Gaza, killing at least 20 Palestinians. A total of about 4,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza during the fighting.

By this count, about one in six Hamas rockets has fallen short and hit within Gaza, injuring or killing numerous Palestinians. The senior military officer added that Israel did not strike the Beit Hanoun area, where a Palestinian family of eight members were killed on May 10, the first day of the hostilities.

According to an initial report on the incident by the group Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP), a homemade rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group fell short and killed eight people, including two children.

In response to Hamas rocket fire, which has so far taken the lives of 12 people in Israel, the IDF said it has killed about 160 terrorist activists in Gaza, including rocket operators, and dismantled about 60 miles of the militant group’s tunnel infrastructure.

Israel has come under severe scrutiny by the international community, as the number of people killed in Gaza is estimated at more than 200 by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.