GAZA CITY [MENL] -- Palestinian insurgents are said to be developing a
chemical warhead for the Kassam-class short-range rocket.Palestinian sources said the Hamas movement, which has designed several
versions of the Kassam, seeks to replace its conventional warhead with
chemical agents. The sources said Hamas has been working on development of a
chemical weapon for more than 18 months.Israeli intelligence officials said they are taking the Hamas claims
seriously. But they said they have not seen any evidence that Islamic
insurgents have succeeded in installing a nonconventional warhead on the
Kassam.Over the last year, the officials said, Hamas has experimented with
placing rat poison and other lethal agents in bombs placed in Israeli
cities. So far, they said, the heat of the explosion burned away the lethal
agents.
NOTE: The above is not the full item.
This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please contact Middle East Newsline at: editor@menewsline.com for further details.
