Hamas is confiscating materials imported to the Gaza Strip for reconstruction and using them to rebuild its terror tunnels, Ynet reports today.

Hamas has been commandeering building materials from Israel transferred into the Gaza Strip for reconstruction for the purpose of rebuilding its offensive ‘terror tunnels’, Ynet has learned from sources inside Gaza – only four months after a 50-day war which saw Israel target the tunnels. …

Gaza was blockaded by Israel and Egypt for years before the summer’s Operation Protective Edge, which ended in August, partly because terrorists were using materials to build fortifications and tunnels under the border. Only in mid-October did Israel allow new materials to start entering the Strip – their oversight a key point in the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

According to Ynet, which cited Palestinian sources in Gaza, the terror organization considers the tunnels to be “pivotal” in its war against Israel. When “a black market for mortar emerged,” after an easing of the Israeli blockade, Hamas was able to acquire the materials “to renew construction of concrete slabs used to line the inside of the tunnels.” Hamas is further diverting iron towards rocket production in an effort to rebuild its arsenal.

In short, the group “has already begun preparing for the next round of fighting with Israel.”

Earlier this week, Al-Monitor reported that senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk confirmed that Hamas is test firing rockets out to sea in an effort to “drastically” improve its rocket arsenal.

The Jerusalem Post reported today that, for the third time since the end of Operation Protective Edge, a rocket from Gaza exploded in Israel. No injuries were reported.

[Photo: Israel Defense Forces / Flickr ]