GAZA – Nearly 20 years after it fired the Qassam 1 rocket, Gaza's first domestically made rocket with a range of only 3 kilometers, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), surprised Israel with an Ayyash 250 rocket that targeted Ramon Airport 220 kilometers away during the fourth war in May last year.

The Ayyash 250 rocket is the latest revelation by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, and it surprised the occupation in that war, which it called the "Battle of the Sword of Jerusalem."

Between Qassam 1 and Ayyash 250, the resistance in Gaza accumulated a lot of experience that enabled it to overcome challenges and obstacles, until it succeeded in developing its own military capabilities with simple capabilities.

Dozens of martyrs and wounded members of the military manufacturing and production units of the resistance factions paid a tax with their blood in the stages of experimentation and development during the past two decades, most of them from the Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad.

The resistance surprised the Israeli occupation with attack planes (French)

Surprise Strategy

Leading sources in the resistance – Al Jazeera Net – said that they are discreet about what they produce and possess of missiles, number, quality, ranges and explosive capability, in order to have in every confrontation with the occupation what they reveal and surprise him, such as the missile "Ayyash 250", and other anti-armored missiles and military vehicles.

The resistance has maintained this methodology in its work during the past four wars, and has each time had something to surprise the occupation with. In the first war in late 2008, the Qassam Brigades used Qassam 3 rockets with a range of so-called "Gaza envelope settlements" at a distance of about 17 kilometers.

In the second war in 2012, the Qassam Brigades introduced the M75 missile into service, targeting the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, in response to the assassination of its deputy commander-in-chief, the martyr Ahmed al-Jabari.

In the third war, in 2014, the Qassam Brigades bombarded the city of Haifa, about 160 kilometers from Gaza, with an R160 rocket.


Creativity under siege

The tight Israeli blockade – according to resistance sources – was an incentive for thinking, creativity and overcoming the lack of capabilities, "and engineers and resisters continued to work day and night to develop the arsenal of missiles and methods and tactics of launching, to avoid Israeli targeting and overcome the Iron Dome system."

The remnants of Israeli rockets and shells raining down on Gaza were a "raw material" that resistance engineers succeeded in "recycling" and reusing in so-called "reverse engineering", as well as the "remnants" of mineral water pipelines that Israel used to transport water from settlements before the withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, reused by the resistance to make the outer "structures" of the rockets.

The "human frogs unit" of the Qassam Brigades also fell into the hands of about 5 years ago on a "naval treasure", by finding the remains of two English military ships sunk in the sea, containing shells and ammunition, which contributed to the development of the local military industry.

Stages of development and semantics of names

What the resistance has achieved is not only an achievement in overcoming the blockade and the scarcity of materials and capabilities, but also in the complex security conditions surrounding Gaza throughout the moment, and putting the lives of workers in this field at constant risk.

From the Qassam 1 rocket to Ayyash 250, evolution shows the amount of effort involved in a small, technologically monitored geographic area.

"Qassam 1": He was born the first child of the Qassam Brigades arsenal, and he gets his name from the jihadist Izz al-Din al-Qassam, and launched it on October 26, 2001, towards the settlement of "Sderot", and reached a range of about 3 kilometers at the time.

Qassam 2: An upgraded version of the first, announced by the Qassam Brigades in 2002, and has a range of 9 to 12 kilometers.

"Qassam 3": Announced by the Qassam Brigades in 2005, it constituted a qualitative leap at that time by reaching the occupied city of Ashkelon, with a range of between 15 and 17 kilometers.

M75: It takes its name from the martyr Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Muqadma, who was assassinated by Israel in 75 and used by the Qassam Brigades during the second war in 2003, in response to the assassination of Jabari, and has a range of up to 2012 kilometers.

Military parade showcases resistance capabilities in Gaza (Reuters)

"Sajil 55": entered service in the third war in 2014, and has a range of 55 kilometers, and the Qassam Brigades targeted the Gush Dan area.

S-40: The Sejil 40 rocket was followed by the Shajil 55 rocket, with a range covering the settlements surrounding Gaza, the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheba, and was first used in a round of escalation in 2019.

J80: His name is attributed to Jabari, and the Qassam Brigades challenged the Iron Qibla system, which was unable to intercept him, despite the prior announcement of the date of its launch towards the city of Tel Aviv at nine o'clock in the evening of one of the days of the 80 war, and its range reaches 2014 kilometers.

R160: The first letter of this rocket refers to the martyr commander Abdul Aziz al-Rantisi, who was assassinated by Israel in 160 and with which the Qassam Brigades bombarded the occupied city of Haifa during the same war, 2003 kilometers away.

Q12-20: It is an upgraded version of the Qassam rocket model, with a range of 12 to 20 kilometers, and carries explosive warheads with high destructive capacity, and the Qassam Brigades revealed that it was manufactured entirely from the remnants of Israeli rockets and missiles, and used it for the first time during the fourth war in 12.

A120: The Qassam Brigade named it after its prominent leader, the martyr Raed al-Attar, who was assassinated by Israel in 120, and used during the fourth war to bomb the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, at which time it said that it "carries an explosive warhead with a high destructive capacity, with a range of up to 2014 kilometers.

SH85: The name of this missile is attributed to the commander of the Qassam Brigades, Muhammad Abu Shamala, who was assassinated by Israel with al-Attar, and was used for the first time in the fourth war to bomb "Ben Gurion Airport", and its range reaches 85 kilometers, and then the Qassam Brigades said that it "carries an explosive warhead with a high destructive capacity, and it had a significant impact on the enemy's home front."

"Watch: The Monster Rocket.
Ayyash 250 rocket with which the Qassam Brigades hit the Zionist Ramon Airport. pic.twitter.com/N24wKN2ZDZ

— Al-Aqsa Voice – Urgent (@Alaqsavoice_Brk) May 13, 2021

"Ayyash 250": The launch of this rocket came under direct orders from the commander-in-chief of the Qassam Brigades, Muhammad al-Deif, during the fourth war, and the battalions targeted "Ramon Airport" over a range of 220 kilometers, which is the latest in its missile system, and its range reaches 250 kilometers, and its name is attributed to the martyr engineer Yahya Ayyash, one of the most prominent commanders of the Qassam Brigades, who was assassinated by Israel in 1995.

It is not known exactly how many rockets the resistance has in Gaza, but Israeli estimates indicate that the Qassam Brigades and the Jerusalem Brigades have about 14,<> rockets.

The sources of the resistance said that "the enemy will discover in every confrontation that the resistance has something new that confuses its calculations, and that its surprises for him will remain present and able to conquer the precautions and security and military reinforcements taken."