Improved Kassam Missile With 11-Mile Range Strikes Ashkelon

Jerusalem, Israel – The terror of Kassam missiles from Gaza has continued to expand.

Palestinian terror organizations on Monday broke a new record when they fired an improved version of the Kassam missile 11 miles. This rocket belongs to the fourth generation of Kassam missiles. The previous generation of Kassams had a five-mile range only.

The improved Kassam missile landed in an open field between the collective family farms Mevoim and Zaroa.

Another missile, which landed in Ashkelon, left one resident, a man in his forties, with severe injuries. Another two missiles landed in an open field near Sderot.

The Israel Military Industries experts were not surprised by the improved range of the Kassam missile. The improved quality of the Kassam missile has been readily apparent for quite some time. Experts say that the footage of the launchings show, for example, that the missiles leave the launchers with greater precision than they used to.

The Kassam missiles still do not have the range that the Grad rockets do. However, the terror organizations have only a limited supply of Grads and they use them sparingly.

The Kassam missiles, alternatively, are manufactured in the Gaza Strip and are more readily available to the terror organizations. Experts say that the improved range of these locally manufactured missiles will result in more missiles fired at longer range. The experts also believe that improvements made in the rocket will be seen in the warheads, which will be more lethal, and the ability to fire a number of rockets simultaneously.

Monday’s missiles were fired from Gaza only a few hours after President Shimon Peres visited the Gaza periphery communities. In the course of that tour, Mr. Peres met with senior security officials, who told him that Hamas terrorists were packing houses in the Gaza Strip with tons of explosives as part of their preparation for an IDF operation. “Even the pillars of the buildings have been wrapped in explosives in order to turn them into a fire trap for IDF troops,” said one source.

Meanwhile, the residents of the Gaza periphery communities began an original form of protest against the continued Kassam missile fire.

They established a new state, called the “State of the Western Negev and the Gaza Periphery Communities.”

They intend to issue their own ID cards, to hold demonstrations, to raise funds and to boycott official representatives of the State of Israel. The new Jewish state has already published its own official newspaper.

“We aren’t disengaging from the state. It’s the government that has caused this severance,” said one of the leaders of the protest movement, Ofer Lieberman from Kibbutz Nir Am. “We understand that and are going to have to manage on our own.”

Shlomo Goldwasser: We Hope It Ends Well

The Regev and Goldwasser families of the two Israeli POW’s in the hands of Hezbollah – were closely following Monday’s media reports quoting Lebanese media that a prisoner exchange deal is expected to be carried out already at the end of this week or at the beginning of next week. Even though the date has not been confirmed here in Israel, the families of Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev sounded more optimistic than they had ever sounded.

On Monday, the two families called at the Ramat-Gan office of the IDF unit for the location of missing soldiers, for a meeting which had been scheduled in advance, but received intense media attention as a result of the reports. The unit has been in touch with the families since the day of the abduction, and the families said the visit had nothing to do with the reports in Lebanon. “We hope it ends well,” said Udi’s father, Shlomo Goldwasser. “Kuntar, like any other prisoner, is a tool in Israel’s hands, and tools have to be used. We are hoping for the best.”

Udi’s mother Miki Goldwasser, said the family had not been informed about any new developments. “All the reports we learned from the news media,” she said. “I believe that my son is alive. Of course there is tension, but we live in hope. In the meantime, we do not know about anything new that is taking place.”

Zvi Regev, Eldad’s father, also voiced hope. “We hope that in the end it will turn out for the best and that we will see them alive,” he said. “We have faith and hope that it will happen. I keep my spirits up.”

Micky Leibowitz, chairman of the society for the kidnapped soldiers, and a close friend of Udi Goldwasser, on Monday called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert not to be afraid to make courageous decisions on the issue. “If the reports about a deal in the north are true, not just another media spin aimed at covering up other failures, we will be the first to back up the prime minister and we will offer him all the public support that is needed,” Mr. Leibowitz said.

Obama On His Way To Israel, Iraq And Afghanistan

The Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, announced on Monday that he was going to visit the battle areas of Iraq and Afghanistan prior to the elections in November. The candidate also intends to visit Israel and to meet with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as well as with the defense minister and the foreign minister. A meeting with Opposition Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, with whom Mr. Obama spoke on the telephone recently, is also possible, as is a visit to Sderot, which has been been under constant missile attacks from Gaza. Republican candidate John McCain visited Sderot in March.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

©The Bulletin 2008