International humanitarian law
The nature of casualties reflects the conditions of asymmetric warfare in this region, in differences in weaponry, defensive technologies, operating terrain and local attitudes: the Gaza Strip has high habitation density whereas the contiguous area of southern Israel where most rockets fall, is the sparsely populated Negev. The forces in the conflict are Gaza-based militants, who have stocks of long-range rockets, such as Grad missiles but use mainly home- or factory-made missiles, many of which have inaccurate trajectories, especially Qassam rockets, many of which hit open fields, versus Israel's combined military forces, naval gunboats to the east, tanks positioned on the land borders, and IAF aircraft, equipped with F-15 fighter jets, AH-64 Apache helicopters, Delilah missiles, IAI Heron-1 drones and Jericho II missiles. Israel's civilian population has, in addition, access to shelters, early-warning sirens and is defended by the Iron Dome missile detection defence system. A spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights queried whether Israeli air strikes targeting homes were compliant with International humanitarian law and International human rights law. Israel states that Hamas places its armouries in densely populated areas to make civilians human shields.