Now that the front ranks of Hamas explosives experts have been “shaved” by the IDF, Hamas is working hard to train a new cadre of “engineers” who will be responsible for establishing the infrastructure for producing bombs for terror attacks.

To that end, classes for those interested are being given on the Internet, whose purpose is to teach a new generation of suicide bombers how to make bomb belts.

The “military academy” was set up on the internet and is named after Keis Adwan, a Hamas terrorist in northern Samaria who was killed a few months ago in a clash with IDF forces. Hamas activists learn the task of making bomb belts on the site.

The first lesson is “the bomb belt – sewing the pockets.” The different parts of the lesson include:

  1. the pouch with a number of pockets;
  2. wires to bring an electric current from both sides of the pouch that go through the folds;
  3. two points to close the electric circuit.

“One of them is a safety point which is meant to keep the suicide bomber alive and to stop the belt from exploding prematurely before reaching the target. The second point is used to close the electric circuit and pressing on it causes the bomb belt to explode,” the site explains.

It goes into detail: “Three experts are needed to assemble the bomb belt: the tailor who cuts it according to the wearer’s size and who sews the folds through which the electric wires are passed and who prepares the other components necessary in the bomb belt’s initial design. The electrician is the only person who relays the size of the bomb belt’s parts to the tailor. He connects the wires in two points, the safety point and the detonation point.

“Any mistake on his part will necessarily cause a disaster and will have very serious implications which do not need to be mentioned, since it is obvious what will happen if a bomb belt explodes before reaching the target or if it doesn’t explode at the target. There are numerous examples of this, particularly in recent acts.

“The explosives expert is at great risk in his work and it is therefore essential that he be an expert of a senior level in explosives, their components, their types and the force of the electric current needed to detonate the bomb. It is he who decides the number of pockets and their size, according to the size of the charges inserted into the pockets.”

The site concludes: “I end this first lesson, which demonstrates the first concepts of bomb belts, in the hope that the second lesson will be held next Saturday, because the material that was relayed by means of correspondence between me and those interested in further details about various aspects of the first lesson must be studied. I expect your letters and questions and after all issues are cleared up, I will set a date for the next lesson. I will not reply to questions relating to any lesson after the time allocated for questions passes. I will kick out of the academy anybody who asks me questions about a lesson that is over. At the end of each stage, a test will held by correspondence. I attribute importance to the lessons because it is my wish to train a large cadre of bomb belt engineers. Allah, may the military academy succeed.”

This piece ran in HaTzofeh on October 3, 2002

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