Iran

  • Print Friendly, PDF & Email
  • Send to Kindle

Gaza Terror Group Claims New Rocket Can Hit Strategic Locations Throughout Israel

by TheTower.org Staff |

A Gaza-based terror group unveiled a new rocket that it claims can hit strategic installations in Israel, Channel 2 News reported Monday.

The Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella group made up of former members of other terror factions, unveiled a new rocket yesterday in a ceremony in Gaza. The group, which is believed to be financed by Iran, took credit for kidnapping Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006.

The rocket, called A-AT, can allegedly hit strategic installations all over Israel. Israeli security officials have not yet commented publicly on how serious a threat these new rockets are.

While Hamas remains the main terrorist organization governing the Gaza Strip, another group, Other groups have recently gained significant backing from Iran. In May, Iran pledged $70 million in financial aid to Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Quds Brigade. Iran also backs Gaza’s new Shiite militant group al-Sabirin, which Israel’s Channel 2 described as being modeled after Hezbollah. Al-Sabirin is led by a former Islamic Jihad commander and reportedly receives $10 million annually from Iran.

For its part, Hamas has also been improving its rocket making capabilities, as well as investing significant resources into building a terror tunnel network with which to attack Israel. Hamas spends an estimated $40 million of its $100 million military budget on tunnels. An Israeli official estimated in July that Hamas digs some six miles of tunnels every month.

Israeli Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold said in May that Hamas is stealing around 95 percent of the cement that enters Gaza, which is intended for civilian reconstruction projects. “From our own investigations we found that out of every 100 sacks of cement that come into the Gaza Strip [from Israel], only five or six are transferred to civilians,” he stated. Hamas uses the cement to build and expand its underground infrastructure.

In the spring, the IDF uncovered two Hamas tunnels that breached Israeli territory, the first such discovery since the conclusion of the 2014 Gaza conflict. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, formerly the head of the research division of Israeli military intelligence and later the director-general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, told reporters in May that the tunnels were a sign that Hamas is preparing for another war against Israel. “They definitely invest a lot in making the necessary preparations so that in the next round, when they decide to start it, they will be able to inflict the heaviest damage on Israel, including through those tunnels,” he said.

[Photo: Facebook ]

tt