"These attacks are in response to Israeli crimes in Gaza," the PRC's
Nasser Salah Eddin Brigades said.
The sources said a Fatah wing loyal to Hamas has also received mortars
and short-range rockets. They said Fatah and other Palestinian gunners
underwent training over the last six months that would enable them to fire a
range of projectiles. The militias were also undergoing exercises in the use
of tunnels in combat.
The longest-range rocket attacks have been conducted by the
Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad. Jihad's Al Quds Brigades has fired the
enhanced BM-21 Grad rocket, with a range of 45 kilometers, into such cities
as Ashdod, Beersheba and Yavne. The attack on Ashdod, a port city,
was the first since the Israeli war with Hamas in 2008.
"We are entering a new phase of bombing targets that are farther away,"
Jihad said.
The sources said Jihad was supplied with the Chinese-origin Grad
variants in 2010. Over the last two weeks, Jihad and other Palestinian
militias have been given greater leeway in missile, mortar and rocket
attacks on Israeli civilian and military targets.
Jihad was also believed to have received anti-tank guided missiles for
strikes on Israeli military positions along the border with the Gaza Strip.
They were said to have included the AT-14, AT-3 and the 9K111 Fagot, also
designed
by Russia and enhanced by China and Iran.
"From now on, there are no more red lines for the resistance," Jihad
said.