As part of a multi-scene escalation between the Palestinians and Israel in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip that began in March 2022, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel on the evening of April 18, 2022. In response to the rocket fire, the Israeli Air Force attacked several targets in the Gaza Strip during the night of April 18-19, 2022. Following the IAF attacks, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades targeted IAF aircraft with SAM-7 Strela (also known as SA-7) type MANPADS, with an improvised battery. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, documented their attack on the IAF in a video published on their official website on April 19, 2022. Although the use of MANPADS with standard and improvised batteries is not new in the Gaza Strip, and is also known from other arenas, such as Syria and Libya, this documentation by the Al-Qassam Brigades is unusual and was probably published in this timing to boast about their military capability against IAF aircraft.
The Gazan military factions’ apparent success in developing improvised batteries for MANPADS is a concerning development, posing a threat to the IAF, particularly helicopters operating at low altitudes and traveling at low speeds, as the improvised batteries not only provide the user with more time to acquire targets but facilitate the reintroduction of MANPADS with expired batteries onto the battlefield.
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