Yasin (RPG)
Hamas-made anti-tank RPG derived from RPG-7.
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The first version was chiefly operated against soft-skin vehicles and personnel, not as an anti-tank weapon.[1] The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, produce the Yasin, an anti-tank weapon based on the RPG-7, which was initially used in combat in 2004.[2]
How it changed
It was first used against Israeli soldiers and Palestinian police officers in 2005.[3] Hamas engineers from the Research and Industry Unit, under the direction of Adnan al-Ghoul (who was killed by the IDF in Gaza on October 22, 2004), reportedly developed the Yasin, which was first shown to the public on August 30, 2004.[4] Following the 2006 Lebanon War, manufacturing of the Yasin was sped up in preparation for a possible war with Israel.[3] By 2018, Israeli intelligence asserted that Yasin warheads were being repurposed into balloon-borne IEDs, because enhancements to Israeli vehicle armor had rendered them ineffective in their original anti-tank role.[5]
Ongoing work to improve the RPG resulted in the "Tandem 85" rocket, which uses a tandem-charge system, and later the "Al-Yassin 105" rocket.[1]
What the maker and period sources say
The Obscura account states the Yasin was developed by Adnan al-Ghoul around 2004 to provide the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades with indigenous anti-vehicle production ability, though it was unlikely to be effective against IDF main battle tanks.[6] The same source notes the Yasin saw use against Israeli personnel in 2005 and internally against Palestinian Police in the same year, and was effective against soft-skinned vehicles and buildings.[6] It was also used against IDF forces in 2007.[6] By 2018, the Yasin appeared regarded as obsolete against IDF forces, and its warheads were repurposed as balloon-launched IEDs.[6]
The Obscura account describes the Yasin as a Gazan RPG-2 copy that includes some design improvements from the later RPG-7.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Yasin (RPG)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sof, "Al-Yassin 105: A heavily modified anti-tank round based on RPG-2 and RPG-7 design", Spec Ops Magazine, 2023-11-08 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Yasin (RPG)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Yassin RPG – The Underground RPG of Gaza", 2017-11-14; "SADJ Identification Series: The RPG ID Guide"; "Hamas Army"; "Yassin RPG – The Underground RPG of Gaza", 2017-11-14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Yasin (RPG)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Obscura, "Hamas' Mysterious Anti-Tank Weapon", calibreobscura.substack.com, 26 August 2019; "Hamas's military buildup in the Gaza Strip (Updated April 2008)", Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC), 2007-04-08; "RPG-missile-..-Yassin-Missile-..-"-Shewath-bomb"-during-the-attack-On-Maghazi | Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades", 67.215.245.108; Shaked, "Hamas presents: Daily terror report", Ynetnews, 7 November 2006; "Al Qassam Brigades fired 6 RPGs and Yassin rocket - Ezz en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Yasin (RPG)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hamas's Military Wing Marks Organization's 29th Anniversary With Special Report On Its Military Industry", MEMRI; "Guest Post: Ghoul 14.5mm Anti-Materiel Rifle, a Palestinian copy of the Steyr HS-50 or Modified Domestically? -", March 6, 2018; "Yassin RPG – The Underground RPG of Gaza", 2017-11-14 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Yasin (RPG)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Obscura, "Hamas' Mysterious Anti-Tank Weapon", calibreobscura.substack.com, 26 August 2019 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Obscura, "Hamas' Mysterious Anti-Tank Weapon", calibreobscura.substack.com, 26 August 2019. facts only, no text reused. calibreobscura.substack.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Yasin (RPG) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Yasin (RPG) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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