See "Blunt and penetrating injuries caused by rubber bullets during the Israeli-Arab conflict in October, 2000: a retrospective study." in Lancet, volume 359 on page 1795.Rubber bullets should not be considered a safe method of crowd control, Israeli doctors have argued after a review of the use of rubber bullets by Israeli police against Palestinians showed a high number of injuries and some deaths.
Rubber bullets were used for the first time by British forces in Northern Ireland in 1970. They were intended to inflict superficial, painful injuries, deterring demonstrators from further action but avoiding the risk of serious injury and death associated with conventional bullets.
However, a retrospective study of 595 casualties admitted to hospitals in Israel during demonstrations by Israeli Arabs in October 2002 showed that rubber bullets result in severe injury and death in “a substantial number of people.”
Analysis of medical records for 151 casualties with injuries proved to be caused by rubber bullets showed that 61% had blunt injuries and 39% had penetrating injuries. Two people died after penetrating ocular injuries into the brain and one died as a result of postoperative aspiration after a knee injury .