This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.The Qassam rocket (Arabic: صاروخ القسام Ṣārūkh al-Qassām; also Kassam) is a simple, steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas.

Many of the rocket's components are made of common materials such as sugar, fertilizer, firearms cartridges, springs, nails, and steel cylinders.

Qassam rockets are named after the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas, itself named for Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, a Syrian Muslim preacher whose death during a guerrilla raid against British Mandatory authorities in 1935 was one of the catalysts for the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine.

[14] The utility of the Qassam rocket design is assumed to be ease and speed of manufacture, using common tools and components.

[citation needed] An online clock timer,[24] developed by Aaron Friedman and Yehonatan Tsirolnik, that automatically resets when Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel occur uses information from the IDF Home Front Command system and counts time up from the last Palestinian rocket attack on Israel.

[26][27] An amateur YouTube video, showing the Israeli Iron Dome defense system at a military checkpoint near a crossing into Gaza taking out multiple Qassam rockets was uploaded in 2014.

"[29] Ibrahim Khreisheh, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), stated in an PA TV interview on July 9, 2014 (translated by MEMRI) that indiscriminate Hamas rockets from densely populated residential areas are "crimes against humanity", while Israeli strikes are legal responses.

[30][31] Amnesty International labeled Palestinian groups' use of rockets during the 2014 Gaza war as a "war crime", stating that "Palestinian armed groups operating in the Gaza Strip fired thousands of indiscriminate rockets and mortars into Israel; firing munitions which cannot be aimed accurately into civilian areas is a war crime, and statements by Hamas and Palestinian armed groups also indicates that some attacks were intended to kill or injure civilians.

"[32] Amnesty additionally "has documented that Palestinian armed groups have stored munitions in and fired indiscriminate rockets from residential areas in the Gaza Strip, and available evidence indicates that they continue to do both during the current hostilities, in violation of international humanitarian law (..) Under international humanitarian law, (..) Parties to the conflict must also take necessary precautions to protect civilians in their power from the effects of attack.

This includes avoiding, to the maximum extent feasible, co-locating military objectives in the vicinity of densely populated civilian neighbourhoods.

"[4] In another 2005 statement, the group noted that as the ruling authority of Gaza, Hamas was obligated to uphold the laws of war and should appropriately punish those responsible for serious violations".