As of: January 29, 2024, 10:05 p.m
By: Babett Gumbrecht
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A Hamas fighter stands armed in one of the tunnels in the Gaza Strip.
© Yousef Masoud/Imago
Hamas does not receive the majority of its ammunition from neighboring states such as Syria or Iran, as previously assumed, but from Israel.
How that can be.
Gaza/Tel Aviv - It has long been suspected that the weapons with which Hamas attacked Israel's border posts on October 7th last year partly came from Israel itself. The speculation surrounding the weapons arsenal of the terrorist organization Hamas has been confirmed now, according to the
New York Times,
by the Israeli military and Israeli intelligence.
There has been speculation about the structures and hierarchies of Hamas for a long time.
The central question is how Hamas organized itself and how they managed to prepare their attack so unnoticed.
After all, they operate in an area that is more or less cut off from the outside world and has few resources.
It was previously suspected that the arms deliveries to the terrorist organization came from neighboring countries such as Syria, Iran and Libya, the
Tagesspiegel
reported based on various sources.
Two pillars of weapons production: recycling and theft
On the one hand, by recycling ammunition.
For example, Hamas uses unexploded bombs to produce its own explosives, an Israeli police consultant told the
New York Times.
Weapons experts say about 10 percent of ammunition typically fails to detonate.
However, in the case of Israel, the number could be significantly higher.
Israel's armory includes missiles from the Vietnam era that have not been used by the United States and other military powers for a long time.
In addition, each new round of fighting leaves more rubble from which Hamas fighters collect pipes, concrete and other valuable material for new bombs.
“Artillery, hand grenades, other ammunition – tens of thousands of unexploded ordnance will remain after this war,” said Charles Birch, the head of the UN demining service in Gaza.
These “are like a free gift to Hamas,” says the
New York Times
.
On the other hand, Hamas received ammunition through raids on the Israeli military's armories.
A military report from early last year revealed that thousands of bullets and hundreds of weapons and grenades had been stolen from poorly guarded bases.
Below the Gaza Strip: A second world made of tunnels
Hamas is said to often use its underground labyrinths of tunnels to transport and smuggle weapons.
The branched tunnel systems are reminiscent of a spider web.
Israel suspects that a number of terrorists from the Islamist organization are hiding in the underground passages and are also holding hostages from Israel there.
According to the
German Press Agency
(dpa)
, experts assume that at least some of the remaining 135 hostages are being held captive in the underground passages.
Hamas terrorists and other extremist Palestinian groups abducted around 240 people from Israel in their massacre on October 7th.
An 85-year-old released from Gaza on October 23 described the system she had to navigate during the hostage crisis as “a spider web.”
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Food, consumer goods, cars and fuel also enter the Gaza Strip through the tunnels.
According to residents, Hamas levies tariffs on all goods and finances itself this way.
The tunnel business is said to have brought Hamas millions in annual revenue.
The tunnels also offer terrorists protection from attacks.
They also use them to appear out of nowhere and attack from behind.
Many tunnels are booby-trapped to kill Israeli soldiers who enter them.
Measures against underground weapons smuggling: flooding and demolition
It was only in December that Israel's army said it uncovered Hamas' largest tunnel system in the Gaza Strip.
It was located 400 meters from the Erez border crossing between Israel and the coastal area, the military said, according to the
dpa
.
The branched network of underground passages stretches around 50 meters underground for more than four kilometers.
The army said it was used by Hamas to attack Israel.
In December last year, Israeli soldiers tested flooding some tunnels where they do not suspect any hostages, according to the US newspaper
The Wall Street Journal
.
To do this, Israel's army pumped seawater into some tunnels to find out whether the method could be used to destroy the underground system on a large scale,
CNN
reports , citing a US official familiar with the matter.
Israel is also trying to destroy the tunnels with explosive devices.
(bg with dpa)