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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Will the West Bank Emulate Gaza Resistance Rockets' Model?</h1>July 11, 2023<br></div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Will-the-West-Bank-Emulate-Gazas-Resistance-Rockets-Model-678x455.png" alt="" title="Will the West Bank Emulate Gaza’s Resistance Rockets Model" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="412" height="276">
This is the third time that the
Ayyash Brigades announces that it has fired rockets toward an illegal
Israeli settlement. (Image: PC)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff" title="Display all articles for Palestine Chronicle Staff">Palestine Chronicle Staff</a></strong></p><blockquote>
<h3><span>The biggest challenge in the West Bank is not whether it will
be able to emulate the Resistance technology in Gaza, but whether it
will be able to consistently develop its technology using homemade or
smuggled equipment. </span></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>The West Bank-based Ayyash Brigade announced the firing of two
‘Qassam-1’ rockets on Monday from the city of Jenin towards the illegal
Israeli settlement of Shaked. </span></p>
<p><span>The announcement comes only days after Israel invaded the town
and refugee camp of Jenin, killing 12 Palestinians and wounding 120
more. </span></p>
<p><span>“Our mujahideen in the Ayyash battalion, with God’s help and
success, were able to target the Shaked (illegal settlement) west of
Jenin with two Qassam-1 rockets,” the battalion said in a statement.</span></p>
<p><span>The statement was joined by a brief video demonstrating the launch.</span></p>
<p><span>“Despite the complex and sensitive security conditions and
impossible work, and despite the lack of capabilities and tools, we
continue to develop and prepare .. the strength of Qassam rockets in the
land of the Ayyash Bank,” the statement added.</span></p>
<p><span>The Ayyash Brigades are believed to be associated with the
Hamas movement, particularly its powerful armed wing, Al-Qassam
Brigades. </span></p>
<p><span>The name ‘Ayyash’ is a reference to the Qassam’s military
commander in the West Bank, Yahya Ayyash, who was assassinated by Israel
in 1996. </span></p>
<h4><strong>Why is this important</strong></h4>
<p><span>This is the third time that the Ayyash Brigades announces that it has fired rockets toward an illegal Israeli settlement. </span></p>
<p><span>Firing rockets has always been confined to Gaza. </span></p>
<p><span>When the Gaza Resistance resorted to the manufacture and firing
of rockets toward Israel in response to Israeli occupation and
violence, as early as 2001, the technology was quite rudimentary. </span></p>
<p><span>The rocket, with an estimated range of 3 to 4.5 kilometers (1.9 to 2.8 miles) was also called Qassam-1. </span></p>
<p><span>These rockets evolved greatly over the years. Although they are
still rudimentary, mostly homemade, and imprecise, the explosive heads,
range and number of these rockets have exponentially increased. </span></p>
<p><span>If West Bank groups emulate the Gaza experience at a larger
scale, they will compound Israel’s so-called ‘security’ problems, as in
its ability to control and suppress, with relative ease, West Bank
Resistance. </span></p>
<h4><strong>Why? </strong></h4>
<p><span>The West Bank is much larger in size and far more complex in
topography than Gaza. Gaza’s total size is 365 square kilometers
(approximately 141 square miles), while the size of the West Bank is
5,860 square kilometers (approximately 2,263). </span></p>
<p><span>With that in mind, the mountainous nature of the West Bank
would also make it easier for rocket launchers to be hidden and
operated. </span></p>
<p><span>Israel often hits densely populated areas in Gaza, killing
thousands of civilians over the years while claiming that the Resistance
in Gaza uses Gazans as human shields. </span></p>
<p><span>Although such claims were never substantiated, overpopulated
Gaza has forced the Resistance to hide their rocket launchers
underground. </span></p>
<p><span>The use of tunnels to hide military equipment, smuggle weapons
and ammunition, and fight advancing Israeli occupation troops eventually
gave Palestinian Resistance in Gaza an edge. </span></p>
<p><span>Tunnels in the West Bank might not always be a sustainable
option due to the rocky nature of the soil. But West Bankers have much
greater space – land mass, complex topography, and relatively smaller
people-to-land ratio – to operate.</span></p>
<p><span>But why would West Bankers resort to this option in the first place? </span></p>
<p><span>In its invasion of Jenin, on July 3, Israel was hoping to
emulate its relatively successful crackdown on Palestinian Resistance
during the Second intifada (2000-2005). </span></p>
<p><span>Its 2002 invasion of major Palestinian cities and population
centers left hundreds of Palestinians dead and thousands wounded. From
Jenin to Nablus to elsewhere, Israel killed, wounded, or arrested most
of the Resistance fighters. </span></p>
<p><span>This gave Israel the opportunity to restore the old status quo,
further expanding its illegal settlements and entrenching its military
occupation in the following years. </span></p>
<p><span>With the help of the US, Israel also instituted a new political
paradigm that turned the Palestinian Authority (PA) into a complete
henchman for Israel, directly involved in suppressing the Resistance. </span></p>
<p><span>Two decades later, the armed resistance in the West Bank is
resurfacing. The new Resistance is decentralized and is operating in
complete independence from the PA. </span></p>
<p><span>Moreover, new resistance tactics are now being used, and the
lessons of 2002 are being studied and applied, to ensure that even
following massive invasions as that of Jenin, resistance dynamics in the
West Bank remain unchanged. </span></p>
<p><span>Now, some, like the Ayyash Brigades in the West Bank, hope that rockets can be a unique addition to the ongoing fight. </span></p>
<p><span>Israel is also wary of this, and the Israeli occupation
military has carried out numerous raids in recent months searching for
rocket launchers. </span></p>
<p><span>On May 24, Kan Hebrew TV reported that in the village of Nazlat
Issa, near Jenin, the occupation army had found a launcher used to fire
an improvised rocket toward the Shaked settlement.</span></p>
<p><span>But the Ayyash Brigades seem to be in a stage of experimentation as far as the use of rockets are concerned. </span></p>
<p><span>Any progress in this field could entice others to emulate the brigades’ experience. </span></p>
<p><span>The Israeli response to any further investment in this tactic
is likely to be harsh and deadly, but unlikely different from the
current iron fist policy in which Tel Aviv uses against Palestinian
fighters. </span></p>
<p><span>The biggest challenge in the West Bank is not whether it will
be able to emulate the Resistance technology in Gaza, but whether it
will be able to consistently develop its technology using homemade or
smuggled equipment. </span></p>
<p><span>Time will tell. </span></p>
<p><span>(The Palestine Chronicle)</span></p>
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