JERUSALEM — Israel's military has identified 46 towns as vulnerable to Palestinian missile strikes.

The military's Home Front has assessed that the Kassam-class short-range missile was capable of striking 46 communities near the Gaza Strip. The assessment was issued ahead Israel's plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip in September 2005.

Home Front commander Col. Uzi Buchbinder told a parliamentary committee on Jan. 11 that the Israeli city of Ashkelon would become a target of Palestinian missile strikes after an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Ashkelon is located about nine kilometers north of the Gaza Strip and contains a major port and chemical and natural gas facilities.

The Israeli commander said Palestinian insurgents could launch Kassam attacks from the northern West Bank after the scheduled Israeli withdrawal from that area. Buchbinder said Israeli cities such as Afula and Hadera would come under the Kassam umbrella, which he expected would be extended from its current range of about 12 kilometers.

Buchbinder told the Knesset Environment Committee that the military has drafted a plan to defend Israeli communities from Kassam attacks. He said the plan included the installation of an early warning system already deployed in Sderot, currently the main target of Kassam strikes. The system was meant to provide a warning of 15-20 seconds of a missile landing.

"This would be enough to run for shelter," Buchbinder said.

Officials acknowledged that Israel could not protect its communities from Palestinian missile or mortar strikes. They said Israel and the United States were developing the Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser, a system expected to be deployed by the end of the decade.

The plan also called for the installation of reinforced glass in Israeli schools. Buchbinder said the military proposal would cost $80 million, but the government has not approved the funding.

Knesset committee chairman Yuli Stern said the military first determined the Palestinian missile threat to the 46 communities in early 2004 amid Kassam attacks from the northern Gaza Strip. Stern said the Kassam threat to Israel would increase following the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.

"As a result of the withdrawal from northern Samaria [West Bank], the range of the missiles would include Afula, Hadera and Bet Shean," Stern, quoting military officers at the hearing, said.