Direct proof of use
IsraelDefense reported on November 2, 2023 that the IDF ground maneuver inside the Gaza Strip required extensive engineering warfare and that the Combat Engineering Corps used the Carpet, Rafael's fuel-air rocket system for breaching minefields, in combat. The same article identified the system as mounted on Puma- and Namer-designated Combat Engineering Corps vehicles.
Army Recognition separately reported the same day that IDF video released on November 1, 2023 showed the Israeli Army using a Puma tracked engineering vehicle equipped with the Carpet mine-clearing system in the Gaza Strip. A Wikimedia Commons file from the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, dated November 1, 2023, provides image provenance for IDF forces during Gaza ground operations and identifies the photographed system as CARPET.
Sources: IsraelDefense Carpet in Gaza, Army Recognition Carpet in Gaza, Wikimedia Commons Swords of Iron IDF photo
Timeline
On November 1, 2023, IDF-released media from Gaza ground operations showed Israeli armored engineering vehicles in the Swords of Iron campaign; the Commons-hosted image is dated that day and identifies the CARPET mine-clearing system. Army Recognition described the same IDF-released video as showing a Puma engineering vehicle with CARPET in Gaza.
On November 2, 2023, IsraelDefense and Army Recognition published explicit identifications of CARPET in Gaza. IsraelDefense framed the system as part of Combat Engineering Corps work in the ground maneuver, while Army Recognition described the Puma-mounted system as being used against Hamas tunnels and positions.
Sources: Wikimedia Commons Swords of Iron IDF photo, Army Recognition Carpet in Gaza, IsraelDefense Carpet in Gaza
Narrative
The documented user in this conflict is Israel. The supported role is combat engineering mobility support: breaching and route-clearance work during the Gaza ground operation, with secondary reporting also tying the Puma-mounted system to attacks on Hamas tunnels and positions.
CARPET is not documented here as a general-purpose artillery rocket. Defense Update describes the system as a minefield-breaching kit that fires up to 20 fuel-air rockets from an armored vehicle to trigger mines and open a vehicle-width passage. IsraelDefense's Gaza article gives the theater-specific mounting context, while Army Recognition and the IDF image provenance supply the conflict-specific visual identification.
The public sources do not provide a complete list of CARPET firings, precise launch locations, quantities fired, or battle-damage results in Gaza. The source-backed claim is narrower: CARPET-equipped Israeli combat-engineering vehicles were fielded in the 2023 Israel-Hamas War during Gaza ground operations for breaching, route-clearance, and related engineering work.
Sources: IsraelDefense Carpet in Gaza, Army Recognition Carpet in Gaza, Defense Update CARPET system, Wikimedia Commons Swords of Iron IDF photo
