Originally published November 16, 2012 — restored with updated historical context.
Several days before this article was originally published, I found an Israel Defense Forces infographic showing the estimated ranges of rockets available to Hamas. According to the map available at the time, the most advanced rocket shown was an upgraded Grad rocket with a range of approximately 48 kilometers (30 miles).
However, during the November 2012 Israel-Gaza conflict, known in Israel as Operation Pillar of Defense, rockets demonstrated a considerably greater range. Rockets were fired toward Tel Aviv, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) away, and toward Jerusalem, approximately 70 kilometers (44 miles) away.
This represented an important geographic change in the rocket threat. Areas of Israel that had previously been outside the expected range of rockets from Gaza were now potentially exposed.
Mapping the Extended Rocket Range
The map accompanying the original Geographic Travels article was created by the author. I added an additional buffer layer showing the newly demonstrated 70-kilometer range.
The original map was also made available as a Google Earth download. Because the original Google Earth forum resource is no longer reliably available at its old location, the archived version is preserved here as a historical reference.
Extending the buffer from 48 kilometers to approximately 70 kilometers dramatically increased the amount of Israeli territory and population potentially within rocket range. In geographic terms, reaching the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas represented a significant expansion compared with the shorter-range rockets that had previously characterized much of the threat from Gaza.
The original analysis also noted that Israel’s nuclear facility near Dimona remained more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) beyond the 70-kilometer range represented on the map at that time.
Historical Context
This map should be understood as a snapshot of rocket capabilities observed during the 2012 conflict, rather than a representation of present-day rocket ranges. Rocket capabilities in the Israel-Gaza conflict changed substantially in the years following the original publication of this article.
The geographic significance of the November 2012 development was straightforward: longer-range rockets meant that the potential threat area was no longer concentrated primarily around communities relatively close to Gaza. Major population centers farther inside Israel could also be reached.
Historical note: This Geographic Travels article was originally published on November 16, 2012. It has been restored from the archived version while preserving its original map analysis, measurements, references, and observations. Additional context has been added to distinguish the historical 2012 rocket ranges from present-day capabilities.
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