Gaza`s rocket threat to “Israel”

Source: BBC, 13-6-2006
Qassam rockets are homemade weapons that have been fired by Hamas and other Palestinian militants in their hundreds at "Israeli" communities near the Gaza Strip.
Katyusha rockets, a much larger and more lethal projectile with a longer range, have also begun appearing in the Gaza Strip, smuggled in from surrounding Arab states.
While only three Katyusha impacts have been detected to date, the routine Qassam attacks have had a powerful psychological effect on "Israelis" along the Gaza border, likened by one "Israeli" security analyst to "Chinese water torture".
Qassam technology has been developed by Hamas since the current intifada began in 2000 to use against "Israeli" civilians (settlers) and retaliate for deadly incursions and assassinations of its activists.
The rockets` range
The rockets are crude, unguided two-metre-long steel weapons filled with explosives, which seldom do much damage but occasionally cause injuries.
They are quick to assemble, quick to launch and they land moments after being fired. Before "Israel's" forces can respond, the rocketeers usually flee the scene.
According to the "Israeli" army, Qassams killed eight people within "Israel" between June 2004 and March 2006.
The heaviest bombardment came this May when 100 launches were recorded by the "Israelis" - but 98 attacks have already been registered this month.
Expanding range
The small Negev town of Sderot has become synonymous with the Qassam because it is the only large "Israeli" population centre within the original Qassam`s range.
Some of Sderot`s outlying houses are less than a kilometre from the outskirts of the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun.
The rocket is usually one of two models, the Qassam 1 with a maximum range of 3km (1.8 miles) and the Qassam 2 with a range of up to 9km. A third model, the Qassam 3, is believed to have a range of 10km.
The newer Qassams could technically thus reach the large "Israeli" industrial city of Ashkelon.
However, the threat has never materialised there as an everyday reality, unlike in Sderot.
Of much greater concern are the Katyusha rockets now turning up in Gaza. Three launches have been reported since 28 March, none of them causing casualties.
They can hit targets at a range of 22km, according to the "Israeli" army.
However even this is small compared to the kind of Katyushas used by Hizbullah militants in Lebanon which have a reported range of 100km.
`Low-cost pressure`
"Qassams are very primitive missiles and their main effect on "Israelis" in the area is psychological torment - a kind of `Chinese water torture`," says Yoram Schweitzer of Tel Aviv`s Jaffee centre for strategic studies.
It is, he says, a major weapon for the militants, "easily launched at low cost but creating a lot of pressure".
While "Israeli" casualties have been comparatively light, it would only take one major taking of life in a school or other civilian facility to spark a major military operation against the rocket squads, Mr Schweitzer adds.
"Israel" has tried to scotch the Qassam threat by raids on metalworks in Gaza and clearing areas of orchards and farmland that the militants use to fire from.
It has also systematically demolished the homes of people it suspects of being involved in the manufacture of the rockets.
However, while the tactics may have succeeded in preventing the development of more penetrating weapons, it has not stopped the almost daily attacks on Sderot.