Hamas terrorists preparing to launch qassam rockets

As Israel prepares to withdraw from the West Bank, Palestinian terrorists claim they fired a rocket into the Jewish state from the West Bank city of Yabed, near Jenin.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades terrorist group called WND to take credit for attacking the Israeli community of Shaked. Rocket firings from the West Bank are rare, with nearly all coming from Gaza, which Israel evacuated in the summer of 2006.

The terrorist source said the rocket was a Qassam, which has been renamed the Enunciation I. Qassams are improvised steel rockets, about four feet long, filled with explosives and fuel. They can travel between one and four miles depending on the sophistication of the particular rocket

Al Aqsa claims the rocket landed in Shaked, but an Israel Defense Forces official told WND they were not aware of any rocket attack.

However, the IDF in the past several months has denied claimed rockets attacks only to later release select information stating some missiles indeed had been fired from northern Samaria.

Judea and Samaria is also commonly called the West Bank.

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Security analysts contend publicity about terror groups' current missile capabilities in the territories could generate criticism of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria, which is within rocket firing range of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport.

As WND reported in July 2006, Abu Oudai, a chief rocket coordinator for the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Judea and Samaria, claimed major Israeli cities and the country's international airport would eventually become Palestinian rocket targets, particularly following Olmert's planned withdrawal.

Abu Oudai said his group has the ability to produce rockets in northern Samaria – a claim that was denied by the Israeli army. He hinted at possible help in developing rockets from Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

"Our goal is to cover all Israeli regions and to bring them inside the distance of our rockets," said Abu Oudai, speaking from Nablus in northern Samaria.

"Every Israeli site or city is inside our capabilities, and if some sites are not yet, they will be very soon. The Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem – every site –and city will be targeted. We are speaking about a new era in the conflict between us and the enemy."

Security officials at the time said the 2006 missile attack opened a whole new front of rocket targets against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and against neighboring cities, including Jerusalem.

Two days after that attack, Palestinian terror groups claimed they carried out another rocket attack from northern Samaria.

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