Palestinian fires two homemade rockets from Samaria, but is it a threat?

This week, two more rockets were fired towards Israeli communities. The difference with these rockets was that they were not fired from Gaza but instead were from Samaria (northern West Bank).

The rockets were fired near the Palestinian town of Jenin on Monday and aimed towards Israeli communities, but landed a short distance away from the launcher and posed no threat to Israel. A video has been circling on social media showing the launches.

The Israeli defense establishment is looking into a video circulating online of Palestinians attempting to launch a homemade rocket near the West Bank settlement of Shaked. pic.twitter.com/RO2mmDDB5M

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 24, 2023

It is indeed concerning that West Bank terrorists are now attempting to mimic their Gazan counterparts by launching rockets at Israeli civilians. However, the IDF is keen to explain that the situation is more of a homemade attempt by an amateur than a real threat from a terror group.

“The rockets did not pose a threat to communities in the area,” a military statement said.

It said the rockets travelled some 80 meters (265 feet) and added that these were “were makeshift rockets, with very limited capabilities”.

Sources in the IDF said that the recent attempts were largely meant to garner media attention than cause a threat. They said they know the suspect behind the attempt and it is not linked with any known terror group.

Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who specializes in missiles and drones, told The Times of Israel that the West Bank rockets were not comparable to early versions of projectiles launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel.

“When the whole rocket thing began in Gaza [in 2001], we saw some very very terrible designs and some crude designs, but I’m not sure we saw anything as crude as that,” Hinz said, referring to the video showing the two projectiles being fired from the Jenin area.

“Considering the circumstances, it’s quite difficult to imagine the West Bank going the same way as Gaza with the quality and quantity of production,” he said.

Hinz said it would, in theory, be possible for Palestinians to manufacture “a very primitive rocket” to launch at Israel, similar to Hamas’ original Kassam projectile, but with Israel conducting frequent raids in the West Bank, it would be unlikely they would be able to build more than a handful.

“I would imagine it would be possible to build something less crude than that, especially if you have some sort of experience, technology… knowledge and assistance from the Gaza Strip,” he said.

“It looks like something a guy made in his backyard. If he had a group, I would imagine the quality would be at least sufficient to match the very early Kassam designs,” Hinz said.

The most recent rocket attack against Israel was clearly a failure. It is at an almost laughable level of crudeness. Having said that, it still shows the intent is there to damage Israel even if the capabilities are lacking.

We must always pray for the protection of Israel and the Jewish people against those who seek their destruction. We pray the IDF can track down the individual and stop them attempting such things again. It is likely in the interest of the IDF to stop this individual before he hurts himself or another Palestinian, as his attempts are likely to do little else.