French
German
Hebrew
Noruegan
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Polish
Portuguese
[Dr. Aaron Lerner – IMRA: According to the narrative of DM Yaalon, all of
these activities do not represent a failure of Israeli deterrence.
Apparently until Hamas starts using these weapons DM Yaalon believes we
should continue with “quiet for quiet” and allow Hamas to prepare to attack
us.]
Hamas prepares for a future confrontation: Restores its tunnels and rocket
stockpiles
Israel estimates that Mohammed Deif survived the assassination attempts
during Operation Protective Edge and has returned to duty with the military
wing of Hamas. At the same time, Hamas is working to rebuild its
capabilities to match its pre-Protective Edge state
IsraelDefense | 29/04/2015
http://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/content/hamas-prepares-future-confrontation-restores-its-tunnels-and-rocket-stockpiles
Israeli media reported that Mohammed Deif, the Hamas leader, who’s wife and
son were killed during an assassination attempt that was carried out as part
of Operation Protective Edge last summer, survived the attack and has
returned to duty with the terrorist organization in Gaza. According to
reports, Israeli officials estimate that Deif is once again taking part in
the planning process of the military wing of Hamas.
Furthermore, it is estimated that nine months after the fighting in Gaza,
Hamas has returned to full activity – filling the stockpiles of rockets and
digging both offensive and defensive tunnels to replace those destroyed by
Israel during the operation. According to Israeli estimates, Hamas is
investing more money than before in its tunnel project, and is employing
over a thousand tunnel-diggers who work around the clock in three shifts,
six days a week.
Regarding rocket, Hamas has initiated a tremendous operation of
self-production of rockets in order to fill its stockpiles. Hamas is
concentrating its efforts in producing short-range rockets – that have
proven effective against the “Iron Dome” during Protecting Edge, but the
organization is also working on producing rockets with a range of 75 km that
can reach the central district and Jerusalem, and rockets with a range of up
to 150 km – that can reach Haifa in the north. There is an Israeli
assessment that Hamas may try to test the “Iron Dome” in a future
confrontation by trying to simultaneously launch barrages of rockets from
various locations in the Gaza Strip at a single target in Israel, in order
to be able to (partially) penetrate the protective layer of the Israeli
system.
And what about the force built-up of the terrorist organization? Israel
believes that Hamas is trying to strengthen its array of unmanned aircraft,
assisted by experts who arrived to Gaza from Iran and Syria.
