Knesset member Zeev Elkin said that some of the weapons in the hands of Islamists from the Gaza Strip came from Russia, and Russian instructors trained terrorists. News Israel reported this citing Elkin’s interview with the radio 103fm.
“I’m not sure they know exactly how it (the weapons – ed.) got there, whether intentionally or unintentionally, or through all sorts of intermediaries, but we know that these Hamas terrorists were trained in Syria and Lebanon by Hezbollah and the Iranians, and there is very close cooperation between the Russians and Iranians in Syria,” the MP said.
According to him, Russia has changed the rules of its game by creating a strategic alliance with Iran. And now Iran is helping Russia with the war in Ukraine, while Moscow, Elkin believes, is helping Tehran and its allies on other fronts.
“There are very complicated things happening in relations with Russia, including some statements by the Russian president comparing what is happening in Gaza to World War II, including Russia’s decision to send its deputy foreign minister to meet with Hamas leaders after the horrific massacre of women and children,” Elkin said.
Sources of Hamas’ weapons supplies
Historically, the Gaza Strip, controlled by extremist groups, has been armed with supplies from neighbouring Arab countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. Underground smuggling routes have always been the main supply route to the enclave, isolated from the land and the Mediterranean coast, according to military experts.
The Palestinians have an extensive network of underground tunnels that allow them to move from Gaza across the Egyptian border or into Israeli-controlled territories. Despite constant raids by the Israeli military to search for and destroy “holes”, smugglers are constantly restoring collapsed sections and building new ones.
The situation with the supply of weapons from Egypt deteriorated significantly in 2013 after the coup d’état in Egypt, which ousted President Mohamed Morsi, whose government was supported by Hamas. Then, with the new leader’s arrival, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt, destroyed most of the tunnels.
After eliminating the old smuggling routes, Hamas and other Palestinian groups began establishing arms shipments across the Mediterranean Sea along the 40-kilometre-long coastline of Gaza. The smuggled weapons are delivered in sealed bags and barrels dumped into the sea from passing ships sailing from Egyptian or Lebanese ports. The dumping occurs at a certain distance from the shore in the current, so the containers are washed up on the Gaza coast.
This type of smuggling is difficult to intercept because it is impossible to track the coastline in search of small packages. The Israeli Coast Guard does track Palestinian vessels, but this does not yield tangible results.
What weapons does Hamas use?
Palestinian radical groups do not have any specialised military equipment, so they have to rely exclusively on off-road vehicles and light infantry groups.
They are armed with a large number of small arms. The undisputed favourite in the region is the 7.62×39 calibre weapon, i.e. Soviet AKMs, as well as their Chinese, Egyptian and Bulgarian copies smuggled from third countries.
In addition, elite units of Hamas have been seen armed with relatively modern Libyan AK-103-2s purchased from Russia.
Hamas fighters were seen with trophy M16 and M4 rifles (or, probably, echoes of the US intervention in Libya) and Israeli Tavor TAR-21s captured in battles.
Infantry weapons are also represented by PKM and Type 80 machine guns and various Soviet or Western sniper rifles. Heavy weapons are represented by Chinese and North Korean clones of the 12.7 mm DShK machine gun.
In large numbers, the militants are armed with Soviet-made RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launchers and numerous copies. Among the ammunition for them are Russian, Bulgarian, Chinese, North Korean and Iranian grenades, including tandem armour-piercing PG-7VR and thermobaric TBG-7.
The presence of Russian RPG-29 Vampire grenade launchers, or their Iranian counterparts known as Ghadir, is worth noting. The Russian grenade launchers could have entered the region through the Syrian government-controlled territory. During the 2014 Gaza war, Hamas used RPG-29s to destroy Merkava tanks.
Guided anti-tank weapons have been smuggled into the region in large quantities for many years. These are the Fagot and Kontest anti-tank missile systems. Iranian modernised copies of the Soviet Malyutka anti-tank missile system and North Korean Bulsae-2 were also spotted.
Hamas artillery
Hamas is known for constant rocket attacks on Israeli territory. It is the main reason for the emergence of the world-famous Iron Dome tactical anti-aircraft system, designed to intercept large groups of rockets.
Terrorists have repeatedly used 122mm Grad MLRS ammunition of various modifications ranging from 20-40 kilometres to attack cities. The local security forces do not have multiple-launch rocket systems, so they use their own manufactured launchers to launch them.
Hamas also used Iranian Fajr missiles, which range up to 75 kilometres.
At the same time, it is believed that the basis of the militants’ rocket artillery remains weapons manufactured inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas produces most of its rockets inside the region at clandestine facilities. The latter, however, does not mean a closed production cycle but rather design support and the supply of critical components from Iran.
Use on drones
In addition to missiles, drones are one of the most sought-after weapons for Hamas. In May 2021, the militants first used several Shehab drones to attack the Tamar gas field in southern Israel, but all the UAVs were intercepted.
On 11 June 2022, the military wing of Hamas, namely the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade, for the first time showed its arsenal of combat drones manufactured by its squads.
The Hamas-built Shehab drone carries a 30kg warhead over a range of up to 250 kilometres. The drone is autonomously guided to the target by pre-entered GPS coordinates. However, combat experience shows that they are not resistant to electronic interference.
Along with these drones, Hamas also used Iranian Zouari drones during the attack. According to the Iranian government-controlled IRNA news service, they “facilitated the crossing of the border” by fighters from Gaza.
The Palestinians first saw Drones of this type in use in 2022. The drones are guided autonomously using GPS; no other controls were seen in the published photos. Accordingly, the drones can only be used to strike static targets. However, in Hamas’ massive attack on Israel, the drones helped the extremists to break the IDF’s defence line.
