QASSAM ROCKET

The 'Qassam rocket' (also 'Kassam') is a simple steel rocket filled with explosives, produced by the Palestinian organization Hamas. Three models have been used. Although they are sometimes erroneously referred to as missiles, they are free-flight artillery rockets lacking any guidance system.
Qassams are sometimes referred to as "homemade" or "primitive", but critics dispute this, maintaining that they require "both expertise and dedicated locations to manufacture," and that "these rockets are manufactured in industrial areas or have been transported across the porous Gaza-Egyptian border."^[1]
The Gaza Strip has been separated from Israel by a security barrier since 1996, which frustrated infiltration into Israel. During its 2005 unilateral disengagement plan, Israel withdrew its civilian and military presence, retaining control over airspace and maritime access. While Qassam rockets were fired regularly even prior to the Israeli Disengagement, the absence of access to targets on the ground has elevated the importance of the rockets, since they were designed to fly ''over'' the barrier and strike Israeli targets outside the Strip. Palestinian militants have had difficulty establishing rocket-producing and launching infrastructure in the West Bank.^[2]

Contents

History of the Qassam

Qassam Rocket Specifications

Similar Rockets

References

See Also

External links

History of the Qassam

Qassam rockets are named after the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas, itself named after an Islamist preacher and militant Izz ad-Din al-Qassam who led a Palestinian militant group during the 1930s. According to Hamas, the Qassam rocket was first developed by Nidal Fat'hi Rabah Farahat and produced under the direction of Adnan al-Ghoul, the "Father of the Qassam" who was assassinated by the Israeli army in October 2004.
Qassams were first fired at Israeli civilian targets in October 2001. However, due to their short range, all landed inside the Gaza Strip, many hitting the Israeli Gush Katif settlement bloc. The first Qassam to land in Israeli territory was launched on February 10, 2002. The first time an Israeli city was hit was on March 5, 2002, when two rockets struck Sderot. Some rockets have hit as far as the edge of Ashkelon. The total number of Qassam rockets launched exceeded 1000 by June 9, 2006. During the year 2006 alone, 1000+ rockets were launched.
The introduction of the Qassam rocket took Israeli politicians and military experts by surprise.^[3] Reactions have been mixed.^[4] The Israeli Ministry of Defense views the Qassams as "more a psychological than physical threat."^[5] The rockets are fired largely at civilian populations. There is some evidence of psychological damage to children in the effected areas, particularly in Sderot.
The IDF has reacted to the deployment of the Qassam rockets by deploying the Red Color early warning system in Sderot, Ashkelon and other at-risk targets. The system consists of an advanced radar that detects rockets as they are being launched. Loudspeakers warn civilians to take cover approximately twenty seconds before impact in an attempt to minimize the threat posed by the rockets.
Since the introduction in 2001 Qassam rockets have caused 12 deaths.^[6][7] The IDF believes that Qassam rockets are becoming more and more advanced in terms of range and accuracy and that rockets comparable to Katyusha rockets and other more sophisticated weapons will soon be introduced.^[8]
In July 2007 Yassin Nassari (of Ealing, west London) was found guilty at the Old Bailey of possessing documents likely to be useful to a terrorist, these documents included detailed plans for the construction of Qassam rockets.^[9]

Qassam Rocket Specifications

	Qassam 1	Qassam 2	Qassam 3
Length (cm)	79	180	200+
Diameter (cm)	6	15	17
Weight (kg)	5.5	32	90
Explosives Payload (kg)	0.5	5-7	10
Maximum Range (km)	3	8-10	10

Similar Rockets

Other Palestinian armed groups also developed home-made rockets, but they are much less common than Hamas' Qassam rocket. The media generally refer to all Palestinian high-trajectory rockets as "Qassam rockets" or "Qassam missiles", while they call most rockets fired from Lebanon "Katyushas", as a Katyusha and Grads are not a specific models but a generic class of rockets (most of the rockets fired from Lebanon were not manufactured by Russia).

★ Hamas - Qassam rocket (models 1, 2 and 3)

★ Palestinian Islamic Jihad - Al Quds 101 & 2

★ Popular Resistance Committees - al Nasser-3

★ Tanzim - Saria-2

★ Fatah - Kafah

References

1. http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/-Homemade-_Rockets$.asp
2. The Homemade Rocket That Could Change the Mideast
3. http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30082
4. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3264980,00.html
5. Defense Ministry: Trade with China resumed, Ynetnews, 3 January 2006
6. Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000 2 killed on June 28, 2004, 2 killed on Sept 29, 2004, 1 killed on Jan 15, 2005, 3 killed on June 7, 2005, 1 killed on July 14, 2005, 1 killed on Nov 15, 2006 and 1 killed on Nov 21, 2006.
7. Israeli dies in Gaza rocket raid
8. Palestinians fire first Katyusha from Gaza to Israel
9. Man jailed over terror blueprints

See Also

★ List of Qassam rocket attacks

External links

★ GlobalSecurity.org - Qassam Rocket

★ The Homemade Rocket That Could Change The Mideast – By Tony Karon, TIME Online Edition (10 February, 2002)

★ Qassam-2 missile a wild card in Mideast conflict – CNN (March 5, 2002)

★ Gaza rockets kill two in Israel, BBC article (June 28, 2004)

★ The creation and launching of Kassam rockets from the Gaza Strip

★ Palestinian Weapons Production and Smuggling : Missiles & Rockets

★ Victims of Qassam rockets in Sderot

★ Rocketboom visits Sderot