The al-Quds 101 Rocket is a homemade

artillery rocket Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rocket explosives as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also us ...

made and used by the

Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي في فلسطين, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), known in the West simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist pa ...

for use in attacks against Israel. The al-Quds 101 is most likely similar to the

Qassam rocket The Qassam rocket ( ar, صاروخ القسام ''Ṣārūkh al-Qassām''; also ''Kassam'') is a simple, steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. These rockets cannot be fired ...

series used by Hamas. On February 11, 2006, Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza reported that the newly developed al-Quds 2 had a length of 2.3 meters and were capable of striking

Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border ...

, Israel, from the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza. ...

. Islamic Jihad has recently released a video showing the development of a much larger Quds-4 rocket. These rockets cannot be fired precisely to target specific military objectives in or near civilian areas. Human Rights Watch issued an analysis, stating, that "such weapons are therefore indiscriminate when used against targets in population centers. The absence of Israeli military forces in the areas where rockets hit, as well as statements by leaders of Palestinian armed groups that population centers were being targeted, indicate that the armed groups deliberately attacked Israeli civilians and civilian objects." Indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian structures that do not discriminate between civilians and military targets are illegal under international law.

References

Rocket artillery Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine Rocket weapons of Palestine Palestinian inventions {{artillery-stub

See also

References