A "defense industries" expert quoted in the Israeli daily Yediot Acharonot says that Arabs in Gaza have been able to smuggle in 20-kilometer-range Egyptian rockets, or parts thereof. These would put Ashkelon's power plant, Prime Minister Sharon's Shikmim Farm, Netivot and possibly even Kiryat Gat within range.
The rocket in question is 122mm (4.8 inches) in diameter, with a warhead weighing up to 23 kg (50 lbs.). The most powerful Kassams now in use have a range of 8-10 kilometers (5-6 miles), putting the Shikmim Farm, to the east of Sderot, just out of range. The terrorists continually improve the rockets' performance, however, and can send the rockets to within 400 meters of a target 8 kilometers away.
In September 1993, during the fateful Knesset session in which the Oslo Agreement was ratified, then-Likud MK Moshe Katzav [now the President of Israel], said, "Tell me please, Mr. Foreign Minister [Peres] and Mr. Defense Minister [Rabin, who was also Prime Minister]: How will you prevent a little van traveling within Arafat's Yesha areas from loading up with katyushas and shooting them towards the coastal cities? How will you prevent [katyushas from being shot towards] Ashkelon, Netivot, S’derot, Ofakim, and Ashdod?"
In 1995, Rabin said, "We know all the scare-stories of the Likud. They promised [when the first Oslo agreement was signed] that there would be katyushas from Gaza. It's been a year already that the Gaza is mostly under PA control, and there haven't been any katyushas, and there won't be any... The Likud is simply scared to death of peace, and for this reason is reacting in a truly childish manner."
The rocket in question is 122mm (4.8 inches) in diameter, with a warhead weighing up to 23 kg (50 lbs.). The most powerful Kassams now in use have a range of 8-10 kilometers (5-6 miles), putting the Shikmim Farm, to the east of Sderot, just out of range. The terrorists continually improve the rockets' performance, however, and can send the rockets to within 400 meters of a target 8 kilometers away.
In September 1993, during the fateful Knesset session in which the Oslo Agreement was ratified, then-Likud MK Moshe Katzav [now the President of Israel], said, "Tell me please, Mr. Foreign Minister [Peres] and Mr. Defense Minister [Rabin, who was also Prime Minister]: How will you prevent a little van traveling within Arafat's Yesha areas from loading up with katyushas and shooting them towards the coastal cities? How will you prevent [katyushas from being shot towards] Ashkelon, Netivot, S’derot, Ofakim, and Ashdod?"
In 1995, Rabin said, "We know all the scare-stories of the Likud. They promised [when the first Oslo agreement was signed] that there would be katyushas from Gaza. It's been a year already that the Gaza is mostly under PA control, and there haven't been any katyushas, and there won't be any... The Likud is simply scared to death of peace, and for this reason is reacting in a truly childish manner."