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Qassam rocket
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Qassam rocket (also Kassam) is a simple steel rocket filled with explosives, produced by the Palestinian Resistance organization or armed resistance movement 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 by the Palestinians themselves".[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 forces have had difficulty establishing rocket-producing and launching infrastructure in the West Bank.[2]
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Qassam rockets are named after the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas, itself named after an Islamic Mojahed and fighter Izz ad-Din al-Qassam who led a Palestinian fighters group during the 1930s. According to Hamas, the Qassam rocket was first developed by Nidal Fat'hi Rabah Farahat and Mohamed Khaled and produced under the direction of Adnan al-Ghoul, the "Father of the Qassam", who was assassinated by the Israeli army on October 22, 2004.
Qassams were first fired at Israeli civilian targets in October 2001.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.
A rocket once fell into the electricity station in Ashkelon and caused electricity shortage in several areas,other time a rocket-similar to Qassam- has fell inside an army base and injured more than 70 israeli soldiers.
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.[6]
Despite their frequent launch, Qassam rockets have managed to kill less than 12 Israeli citizens since 2000.
| 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 |
- See also: Palestinian domestic weapons production
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 manufactured by China[7]).
- 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
- ^ http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/-Homemade-_Rockets$.asp
- ^ Tony Karon. "The Homemade Rocket That Could Change the Mideast", Time Magazine, 10 February 2002.
- ^ http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30082
- ^ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3264980,00.html
- ^ Defense Ministry: Trade with China resumed, Ynetnews, 3 January 2006
- ^ "Man jailed over terror blueprints", BBC News Online, 17 July 2007.
- ^ http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/18/global14408.htm
- 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
- Qassam Photos