M75 ROCKETS FORCE NETANYAHU TO SEEK EGYPT HELP TO ARRANGE CEASEFIRE
M75 ROCKETS FORCE THE ZIONIST ENTITY TO STOP THE LAST GAZA WAR
Palestinian M75 rockets that were launched from Hamas bases in Gaza Strip could reach the targets in the occupied Palestine territories as far as Tel Aviv. The latest development of target range of the Palestinian rockets especially in the last Gaza War in November 2012 prompted Israeli regime leader Benyamin Netanyahu to ask the US and Egypt to arrange a ceasefire.
A cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers took effect Nov. 21, 2012, bringing an end to eight days of the fiercest fighting in years and possibly signaling a new era of relations between the bitter enemies.
News of the truce, announced in Cairo and reached after furious diplomacy that drew in U.S., U.N., European and regional diplomats, set off ecstatic celebrations in Gaza, where thousands poured into the streets, firing guns into the air, honking horns and waving Palestinian, Hamas and Egyptian flags.
In Israel, small demonstrations were held in communities that were struck by rockets. Protesters said the military should have hit Hamas harder and some held signs demanding security and denouncing “agreements with terrorists.” Leaders on both sides used tough language as they prepared to engage in indirect negotiations on a future border arrangement through Egyptian mediators.
“I know there are citizens that expected a wider military operation and it could be that it will be needed. But at this time the right thing of the state of Israel is to take this opportunity to reach a continuous cease-fire,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Hamas Victory
At a news conference in Cairo, the top Hamas leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal, claimed victory, saying the Israelis “failed in their adventure” and that Israel is “inevitably destined for defeat.”
The then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called it “a critical moment for the region.”
“Egypt’s new government is assuming the responsibility and leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace,” Clinton said.
Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza on Nov. 14 in to halt months of renewed rocket fire from Gaza. In a first salvo, it assassinated the Hamas military chief, then bombarded more than 1,500 targets in eight days of airstrikes and artillery attacks. Palestinian militants led by Hamas showered Israel with more than 1,500 rockets, including longer-range weapons that reached as far as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The fighting killed 161 Palestinians, including 71 civilians, and forced hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the border to remain huddled indoors. Five Israelis were killed. It was the worst bloodshed since an Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago that left hundreds dead. Under the agreement, Egypt will play a key role in maintaining the peace.
Operation Pillar of Cloud versus Operation Stones of Baked Clay
Operation Pillar of Cloud (Hebrew: עַמּוּד עָנָן, ʿAmúd ʿAnán, literally: “Pillar of Cloud”) was an eight-day Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, officially launched on 14 November 2012 with the killing of Ahmed Jabari, chief of the Gaza military wing of Hamas.
According to the Israeli government, the operation began in response to several Palestinian provocations: the launch of over 100 rockets at Israel during a 24-hour period, an attack by Gaza militants on an Israeli military patrol jeep within Israeli borders, and an explosion caused by IEDs, which occurred near Israeli soldiers, on the Israeli side of a tunnel passing under the Israeli West Bank barrier.
The Israeli government stated that the aims of the military operation were to halt rocket attacks against civilian targets originating from the Gaza Strip and to disrupt the capabilities of militant organizations. The Palestinians blamed the Israeli government for the upsurge in violence, accusing the IDF of attacks on Gazan civilians in the days leading up to the operation. They cited the blockade of the Gaza Strip and the occupation of West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as the reason for rocket attacks.
During the course of the operation, the IDF claimed to have struck more than 1,500 sites in the Gaza Strip, including rocket launchpads, weapon depots, government facilities, and apartment blocks. Gaza officials said 133 Palestinians had been killed in the conflict: 79 militants, 53 civilians, and a policeman. They estimated that 840 Palestinians were wounded. Many families were displaced. One airstrike killed ten members of the al-Dalu family. Some Palestinian casualties were caused by misfired Palestinian rockets landing inside the Gaza Strip. Eight Palestinians were executed by members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades for alleged collaboration with Israel.
During the operation, Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) further intensified their rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns, in an operation code named Operation Stones of Baked Clay (Arabic: حجارة سجيل, ḥijārat sijīl) by the al-Qassam Brigades, firing over 1,456 rockets into Israel, and an additional 142 which fell inside Gaza itself. Palestinian militant groups used weapons including Iranian-made Fajr-5, Russian-made Grad rockets, Qassams, and mortars.[citation needed] Some of these weapons were fired into Rishon LeZion, Beersheba, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and other population centers.
Tel Aviv was hit for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War, and rockets were fired at Jerusalem. The rockets killed three Israeli civilians in a direct hit on a home in Kiryat Malachi. By the end of the operation, six Israelis had been killed, two hundred forty were injured, and more than two hundred had been treated for anxiety by Magen David Adom. About 421 rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, another 142 fell on Gaza itself, 875 fell in open areas, and 58 hit urban areas in Israel. A bus in Tel Aviv was bombed by an Arab-Israeli, injuring 28 civilians.
Hamas opens monument M75 rockets in Gaza City
Hamas unveiled a rocket-shaped statue on March 8, 2014 showcasing its capacity to strike arch-enemy Israel, as the Jewish state boasted its own haul of captured weapons it claims were bound for Gaza.
“Hamas managed to take the battle to the heart of the Zionist entity (Israel) after developing its rocket system, succeeding where many Arab armies had failed,” said a leader of Hamas armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, flanked by masked fighters at the statue’s unveiling.
The monument in Gaza City features a life-size model of a large M75 rocket, named in honour of Qassam Brigades founding member Ibrahim al-Maqadma – who was assassinated by Israel in 2003 – and alluding to its range of 75km.
M75 rockets fired from Gaza during the last major war with Israel in November 2012 struck areas around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, almost 70km away.
A Hamas official at the Gaza City ceremony told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that in any future confrontation with the Jewish state, cities in the far north would be targeted.
” Hamas is able to fight in the heart of the Zionist state after developing its own rocket system , at a time when many Arab countries fail , ” said the leader of Hamas’ military wing , the Ezzedine al – Qassam , surrounded by masked militants .
Memorial in Gaza City that featured an M75 rocket in actual size , which bears the name of the founder of the Al- Qassam Brigades Ibrahim al – Maqadma , who was killed by Israel in 2003.
Hamas uses the M75 rockets in the last great war against Israel in November 2012 . Rocket powered 75 -kilometer journey successfully hit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which is about 70 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.
During the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense, Gaza resistance organizations for the first time fired rockets that reached Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Hamas held a ceremony in Gaza City on on March 8, 2014 to inaugurate a new monument depicting a M75 rocket.
“Hamas has managed to take the battle to the heart of the (Israeli) entity after developing its rockets system, and has succeeded where many Arab armies have failed,” a commander from the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades said, surrounded by masked soldiers.
“The bloodshed will not stop until the owners (of Palestine) recover their rights and until the holy places are returned to the Islamic nation,” he added.
The M75 rocket monument is dedicated to Ibrahim al-Maqadma, a founder of the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, who was killed by the IDF in 2003.
A fresco of Mandate-era Palestine is painted on the base of the monument, with the dates of the November 2012 rockets fired at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and a question mark on areas of Israel further north than that.
“The question mark on the north of the map shows that the cities in the far north will be among the targets of the Qassam Brigades and the resistance in any future confrontation”, a Hamas leader told AFP anonymously.
Group threatens to fire on northern Israel during next confrontation, unveils new rocket statue in Gaza City
Hamas’ armed wing threatened to shoot rockets that would reach northern Israel during its next confrontation with the IDF. (T/K01/P04/E01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency ( MINA)
