TEL AVIV — Hamas has succeeded in developing an indigenous variant
of the Soviet-origin Katyusha rocket that exceeds the 20 kilometer range of the original.
Israeli military sources said Hamas has developed and fired a BM-21 Grad
rocket that matched or exceeded the capabilities of the original weapon.
They said the Palestinian variant of the Grad traveled 24 kilometers into Israel.
On July 18, Palestinian gunners fired an indigenous Grad 122 mm rocket
to an Israeli agricultural community about 19 kilometers from the Gaza
Strip. The rocket landed in Kibbutz Sdot Bror Hayil and nobody was seriously
injured, Middle East Newsline reported.
The military sources said the Palestinian rocket traveled 24 kilometers,
a range that exceeded the standard 122 mm Katyusha, with a range of about 20
kilometers. They said Hamas was expected to begin serial production of the
indigenous Katyusha over the next few weeks.
On Thursday, Palestinian gunners fired nine Kassam-class, short-range
missiles into Israel. In a search-and-destroy operation, Israeli forces
killed 20 Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Hamas has been targeting the family of Fatah leader
Mohammed Dahlan.
Hamas gunmen have launched several attacks against family members of
Dahlan, regarded as the de facto Palestinian Authority security chief in the
Gaza Strip. Over the last month, two nephews of Dahlan have been targeted,
with one killed and the other injured.
"There appears to be a quiet campaign by Hamas to intimidate Dahlan," a
Palestinian source said. "Hamas believes he is using the current war against
Israel to strengthen his position."
On July 16, a nephew of Dahlan was killed in a Hamas ambush in the
central Gaza city of Khan Yunis. Mohammad Zaki Dahlan was shot and killed as
he was standing near him home in the Jorit Al Aqad neighborhood of Khan
Yunis.
Dahlan, 24, was identified as an officer in the Preventive Security
Apparatus. He was shot and died after arrival in a local hospital.
The PSA was founded and headed by the elder Dahlan until 2005. He has
installed several members of his family as officers in the PSA as well as
in other agencies of the PA.
In May, another nephew of Dahlan was shot and injured in Gaza City. The
nephew was also identified as a PSA officer.
Hours after Dahlan's death, PSA officers retaliated against Hamas. About
a dozen officers hurled grenades and fired toward the home of a Hamas
leader, Walid Amr, a lecturer at the Islamic University. Nobody was injured.
The killing of Dahlan was said to have capped a series of PSA attack on
Hamas operatives in Khan Yunis. The sources said the junior Dahlan was
blamed for the attacks.
