One of the claims often made by people who are trying to claim that Israel's response is disproportionately harsh is that the rockets and mortar rounds being fired daily from Gaza into Israel are "virtually harmless", "homemade weapons" or "just big firecrackers".
The claim is FALSE.
These are military weapons, lightweight artillery. They are designed to kill people. They are packed with lethal explosives. A few days before operation "Cast Lead," one of these weapons misfired, hit a house and killed two Palestinian girls. After the disengagement, 19 Palestinians were killed when a truck carrying HAMAS men and some unsecured Qassam rockets (which were bouncing around on the truck bed) exploded during a HAMAS parade. The Qassams and Grads in the arsenals of Gaza's rocket crews are lethal weapons.
What the Gazan rockets DO lack is guidance systems, so that they are only useful if aimed at a large, target-rich environment. For Gazan rocket crews, who are trying to kill civilians, the large, target-rich environments are Israeli towns; the targets are civilians.
Given the lethality of the explosives in Qassam rockets and other weapons being used against Israeli civilians, and the rocket crews' intent to kill Israelis with them, why have there been so few Israeli deaths?
The Israelis have taken drastic steps to protect their people from these attacks:
Unfortunately, many schools are not adequately fortified, and on some occasions, rockets fired toward schools have struck classrooms only minutes after the kids went elsewhere. In cases like this, only the most incredible luck has prevented a massacre.
The Gazan terror gangs also use mortars, which are similar to the mortars used in wars by armies all over the world.
The rockets and mortar bombs are not "home made," as many news sources incorrectly label them. They are designed by skilled engineers, who are constantly attempting to improve their range and lethality, and are manufactured in metal-working and rocket fabrication facilities by skilled professionals who have been specially trained in their construction. They are then stored in quantity in hidden bunkers.
Many of those who deprecate these weapons are simply repeating the claim without thinking. However, the claim is originated by people whose aim is to claim that any Israeli reaction is "disproportionate," and thus to attack Israel for taking any action at all in defense of its people. After all, if these are just big nuisances, and Israel takes action to prevent them, then Israel looks like a bully. But if 8000+ lethal rockets have been fired into Israeli civilian towns since Israel's complete withdrawal from Gaza, that's another matter altogether, isn't it?
Bottom Line:
The rockets that the Gaza terror gangs fire at Israelis are lethal weapons. They are not "harmless," "home made" or "big fireworks." Israelis in Sderot and elsewhere are living in a constant state of fear, and only Israel's unprecedented efforts to protect its people via warning systems and fortified rooms in every house has prevented mass loss of life.
Israel's reaction is proportionate to the daily attempts by Gazan rocket crews to murder Israeli civilians.
What the Gazan rockets DO lack is guidance systems, so that they are only useful if aimed at a large, target-rich environment. For Gazan rocket crews, who are trying to kill civilians, the large, target-rich environments are Israeli towns; the targets are civilians.
Given the lethality of the explosives in Qassam rockets and other weapons being used against Israeli civilians, and the rocket crews' intent to kill Israelis with them, why have there been so few Israeli deaths?
The Israelis have taken drastic steps to protect their people from these attacks:
- All of the houses along the Gaza perimeter contain reinforced (fortified) rooms, and public areas along the Gaza perimeter have shelters.
- Israel has implemented a radar-based alert system, called "Color Red," which sounds a siren when a rocket is detected. This gives people up to 15 seconds warning, during which they must drop everything and run to the nearest shelter or into the reinforced room in their house, dragging their kids along if they have kids with them. If the kids are not with their parents, they must do this themselves. Heaven help anyone on crutches.
Unfortunately, many schools are not adequately fortified, and on some occasions, rockets fired toward schools have struck classrooms only minutes after the kids went elsewhere. In cases like this, only the most incredible luck has prevented a massacre.
The Gazan terror gangs also use mortars, which are similar to the mortars used in wars by armies all over the world.
The rockets and mortar bombs are not "home made," as many news sources incorrectly label them. They are designed by skilled engineers, who are constantly attempting to improve their range and lethality, and are manufactured in metal-working and rocket fabrication facilities by skilled professionals who have been specially trained in their construction. They are then stored in quantity in hidden bunkers.
Many of those who deprecate these weapons are simply repeating the claim without thinking. However, the claim is originated by people whose aim is to claim that any Israeli reaction is "disproportionate," and thus to attack Israel for taking any action at all in defense of its people. After all, if these are just big nuisances, and Israel takes action to prevent them, then Israel looks like a bully. But if 8000+ lethal rockets have been fired into Israeli civilian towns since Israel's complete withdrawal from Gaza, that's another matter altogether, isn't it?
Bottom Line:
The rockets that the Gaza terror gangs fire at Israelis are lethal weapons. They are not "harmless," "home made" or "big fireworks." Israelis in Sderot and elsewhere are living in a constant state of fear, and only Israel's unprecedented efforts to protect its people via warning systems and fortified rooms in every house has prevented mass loss of life.
Israel's reaction is proportionate to the daily attempts by Gazan rocket crews to murder Israeli civilians.
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