Special to WorldTribune.com

GAZA CITY — Hamas has been touting a variant of a leading Syrian rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in the latest mini-war with Israel.

Hamas has asserted that it was producing long-range rockets used in the current mini-war with Israel. The ruling Islamist movement identified the rocket as the R-160, said to be a variant of the unguided Syrian-origin M-302.

“Launching an R-160 missile at Haifa reflects a qualitative development
to the capacities of resistance, and is a source of pride for our people,”
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Israel has not confirmed a Palestinian rocket attack on Haifa. The
Israeli media reported on July 9 that two M-302s fell into the Mediterranean
Sea near Haifa. Haifa contains a chemical production facility that had been
targeted by the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah in 2006.

Hamas said the R-160 was produced in the Gaza Strip and represented a
strategic upgrade in firepower. M-302, with a 150-kilogram warhead, was said
to have a range of 160 kilometers.

So far, only a handful of M-302s have been fired, one of them striking
the northern city of Hadera on July 8. Later, an M-302 landed outside Zikron
Yaakov, some 35 kilometers south of Haifa.

“Our backs are to the wall and we have nothing to lose,” Abu Zuhri said.

  Hamas describes long-range variant of Syrian missile as ‘source of pride for our people’, M-302, R-160, Sami Abu Zuhri