On April 16, 2001, the first of many thousands of rockets was fired from Gaza at the western Negev communities straddling the Strip’s border. On that early spring day, the residents of Sderot had their first taste of the terror that would come to define life in the previously quiet town for the next 10 years.
The rockets have proved to be a true source of terror for the residents of Sderot and other border-region communities. Several years ago, the
first victim of a Kassam attack described to
The Jerusalem Post how she lives in a bomb shelter and for months at a time and often times finds herself too scared to take her small children to school. Unfortunately, her story is not unique.
RELATED:Hamas renews rocket fire: Kassam explodes near AshkelonSderot residents testify before Goldstone panelKassam rockets are named after Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Kassam, who was
killed by British Mandate Police in 1935. Born in Syria and transplanted
to Haifa, Kassam led terrorist attacks against Jewish residents of
Mandate Palestine and British forces until his death. He has since
become a lasting symbol for Palestinian terrorists and the namesake of
Hamas’s armed terrorist wing, the Izzadin Kassam Brigades.
Palestinian terrorists began firing Kassam rockets at the western Negev
in 2001, but it wasn’t until the 2006 Gaza Disengagement that rockets
began falling on Israeli communities in the massive terrorizing barrages
of thousands of projectiles a year that we know today. Prior to the
Disengagement, Israeli settlements and military bases in Gaza had been
much easier targets for terrorist elements in the Strip.
After the disengagement, it became much more difficult for Hamas and the
other terrorist groups in the Strip to attack Israelis. With a
constantly-patrolled fence and considerably more distance between them
and their targets, the Kassam rocket proved to be the perfect weapon.
Kassams rockets are cheap and relatively easy to produce using readily
available materials and are small enough to be moved undetected much of
the time. Additionally, they have proved to be nearly unstoppable. Even
the
newly introduced Iron Dome anti-rocket system is helpless against shorter-range Kassam rockets targeting border communities like Sderot.
In a sense, however, the development and adoption of Kassam and other
rockets are a testament to the successes of Israeli counter-terrorism
activities, but unfortunately also to the limits of its capabilities.
The Israeli security services have generally managed to eliminate the
more traditional terror attacks emanating from Gaza, but in order to
compensate for the operational constraints, Hamas and other groups
adopted the Kassam rocket as their primary terrorist tool.
Kassam rockets have undergone extensive development since their
introduction in 2001. The first generation of Kassams had a range
limited to three kilometers and carried a payload of half a kilogram of
explosives. The third generation in use today has a range of 10 km and
carries a 10 kg payload. In addition to Kassams, since the Disengagement
and Hamas’s ensuing seizure of power in the Strip, the group has added
standard Grad-model rockets to the Strip, which have a much longer range
and can target more distant cities such as Ashdod, Ashkelon and
Beersheba.
Unguided and usually crudely aimed at Israeli civilian populations, the
rocket fire clearly constitutes a war crime on the part of the terrorist
groups responsible for them. Over 20 Israelis have been killed by
Palestinian rockets since 2001, most of whom were civilians.
The rockets have created a constant state of terror for the Israeli
communities in the border region. Even with an early warning system,
named “The Color Red,” residents have only a few seconds time to reach
protected rooms and areas. Without state funding of protected rooms,
many residents of the western Negev are left unprotected, adding to the
unbearable rocket terror.
It is believed today that Hamas, which has exercised relative restraint
considering the assumed size of its arsenal, is capable of targeting Tel
Aviv and other civilian population centers deep into Israeli territory.
The restraint, however, only emphasizes the threat and effectiveness of
the small and cheap projectiles.
This week marks 10 years of rocket fire terrorizing Israeli communities
in the western Negev. For 10 years Israelis, young and old have lived in
a constant state of fear, suffered from shock and have been injured and
nearly two-dozen killed by the crudely built rockets manufactured in
Gaza basements and workshops.
Ruth Eglash contributed to this report.