Palestinian rockets are a grave threat to Israel

JERUSALEM (AP)--Israel's military intelligence chief said the Palestinians' homemade Qassam-2 rockets don't pose a threat to Israeli cities, contradicting earlier claims made by the Israeli defense minister.

The intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi, said he reached that conclusion after Israel built a replica of the rocket, test-fired it and found that it has a range of only six kilometers (four miles).

Last week, in response to the firing of two Qassam-2 rockets that landed in open fields in Israel, the Israeli army launched its biggest operation against Palestinian towns in the Gaza Strip in the past 16 months of fighting. During the incursions, five armed Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said at the time that "the Qassam is something that crosses all our red lines."

Several more rockets have been fired since the Gaza incursion, causing no injuries. Twice, rockets hit army bases in Gaza, inflicting some damage.

The Israeli military has said the Qassam-2 has a range of five to eight kilometers (three to five miles) and could hit some Israeli population centers.

Zeevi said Sunday that the rocket's range is shorter, and that it isn't a threat to Israel. "If the Qassam-2 is fired from the seamline (the invisible frontier between Israel and the West Bank), it won't hit population centers in the state of Israel," Zeevi told Israel TV's Channel 2.

None of Israel's major cities are within rocket range, but several smaller towns are. Zeevi said the Palestinians are working to extend the rocket's range.

Leading military commentators have accused Ben-Eliezer of making too much of the Qassam-2, arguing that the suicide bombers who have been blowing themselves up inside Israeli cities are much more dangerous.