From News Nation:
“How did Hamas grow its
arsenal to strike Israel?”
(An Israeli firefighter walks
next to cars hit by a missile fired from Gaza Strip, in the southern Israeli
town of Ashkelon, Tuesday, May 11, 2021.)
In this fourth war between Israel
and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, the Islamic militant group has fired more than 4,000
rockets at Israel, some hitting deeper in Israeli territory and with greater
accuracy than ever before. The unprecedented barrages reaching as far north as
the seaside metropolis of Tel Aviv, coupled with drone launches and even an
attempted submarine attack, have put on dramatic display a homegrown arsenal
that has only expanded despite the choke hold of a 14-year Israeli-Egyptian
blockade of the coastal strip. “The magnitude of (Hamas) bombing is much bigger
and the precision is much better in this conflict,” said Mkhaimar Abusada, a
professor of political science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City. “It’s
shocking what they’ve been able to do under siege.” Israel has argued that the
blockade, which has caused severe hardship for more than 2 million Palestinians
in Gaza, is essential for preventing a Hamas arms build-up and cannot be
lifted. Here’s a look at how, despite intense surveillance and tight
restrictions, Hamas managed to amass its cache.
FROM CRUDE BOMBS TO LONG-RANGE
ROCKETS
(Israeli security forces inspect
a damaged synagogue after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in
Ashkelon, Israel, Sunday, May 16, 2021.)
Since the founding of Hamas in
1987, the group’s secretive military wing — which operates alongside a more
visible political organization — evolved from a small militia into what Israel
describes as a “semi-organized military.” In its early days, the group carried
out deadly shootings and kidnappings of Israelis. It killed hundreds of
Israelis in suicide bombings during the second Palestinian intifada, or
uprising, which erupted in late 2000. As violence spread, the group started
producing rudimentary “Qassam” rockets. Powered partly by molten sugar, the
projectiles reached just a few kilometers (miles), flew wildly and caused
little damage, often landing inside Gaza. After Israel withdrew from Gaza in
2005, Hamas assembled a secret supply line from longtime patrons Iran and
Syria, according to Israel’s military. Longer-range rockets, powerful
explosives, metal and machinery flooded Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
Experts say the rockets were shipped to Sudan, trucked across Egypt’s vast desert
and smuggled through a warren of narrow tunnels beneath the Sinai Peninsula.
In 2007, when Hamas fighters
pushed the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza and took over governing the
coastal strip, Israel and Egypt imposed their tight blockade. According to the
Israeli military, the smuggling continued, gaining steam after Mohammed Morsi,
an Islamist leader and Hamas ally, was elected president of Egypt in 2012
before being overthrown by the Egyptian army. Gaza militants stocked up on
foreign-made rockets with enhanced ranges, like Katyushas and the
Iranian-supplied Fajr-5, which were used during the 2008 and 2012 wars with
Israel.
A HOMEGROWN INDUSTRY After
Morsi’s overthrow, Egypt cracked down on and shut hundreds of smuggling
tunnels. In response, Gaza’s local weapons industry picked up. “The
Iranian narrative is that they kick-started all the missile production in Gaza
and gave them the technical and knowledge base, but now the Palestinians are
self-sufficient, said Fabian Hinz, an independent security analyst focusing on
missiles in the Middle East. “Today, most of the rockets we’re seeing are
domestically built, often with creative techniques.” In a September
documentary aired by the Al-Jazeera satellite news network, rare footage showed
Hamas militants reassembling Iranian rockets with ranges of up to 80 kilometers
(50 miles) and warheads packed with 175 kilograms (385 pounds) of explosives.
Hamas militants opened unexploded Israeli missiles from previous strikes to
extract explosive materials. They even salvaged old water pipes to repurpose as
missile bodies. To produce rockets, Hamas chemists and engineers mix
propellant from fertilizer, oxidizer and other ingredients in makeshift
factories. Key contraband is still believed to be smuggled into Gaza in a
handful of tunnels that remain in operation. Hamas has publicly praised
Iran for its assistance, which experts say now primarily takes the form of
blueprints, engineering know-how, motor tests and other technical expertise.
The State Department reports that Iran provides $100 million a year to
Palestinian armed groups.
THE ARSENAL ON DISPLAY The
Israeli military estimates that before the current round of fighting, Hamas had
an arsenal of 7,000 rockets of varying ranges that can cover nearly all of
Israel, as well as 300 anti-tank and 100 anti-aircraft missiles. It also has
acquired dozens of unmanned aerial vehicles and has an army of some 30,000
militants, including 400 naval commandos. In this latest war, Hamas has
unveiled new weapons like attack drones, unmanned submarine drones dispatched
into the sea and an unguided rocket called “Ayyash” with a 250-kilometer
(155-mile) range. Israel claims those new systems have been thwarted or failed
to make direct strikes. The Israeli military says its current operation has
dealt a tough blow to Hamas’ weapons research, storage and production
facilities. But Israeli officials acknowledge they have been unable to halt the
constant barrages of rocket fire. Unlike guided missiles, the rockets are
imprecise and the vast majority have been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome
defense system. But by continuing to frustrate Israel’s superior firepower,
Hamas may have made its main point. “Hamas is not aiming for the military
destruction of Israel. Ultimately, the rockets are meant to build leverage and
rewrite the rules of the game,” Hinz said. “It’s psychological.”
^ The International Community now
needs to investigate and stop Hamas from re-supping itself with missiles and
weapons before they start another war. ^
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